Alien Patrol Club
by DBZLover4Ever
Summary: After the whole Buu incident, Videl's pretty sure she's discovered all of Gohan's secrets. Right? Wrong, and an infamous high school club might help her reveal the very last one. Gohan's not an alien, is he?
1. Meet the Club

**DISCLAIMER: **Well, I guess you can tell that I don't own DBZ. Somehow or someway . . .

* * *

Alien Patrol

"Welcome to the first Alien Patrol club meeting in two weeks," a shadowy figure said to a room full of . . . well, nerds. "We haven't been able to meet in the past two weeks, because most of our members were out with injuries regarding a slight mishap regarding our last suspect . . ."

"I told you we shouldn't have gone after Videl!" a boy still nursing an injured arm yelled angrily standing up from his seat. He did his best to stare down the leader of the club, but because of his unimposing appearance, did not prove to be very threatening.

"Hey!" the leader retorted angrily. No one interrupted _his _speeches. "We earned publicity for that stunt! The school paper did an article on us and we gained two members!" In the leader's mind the potential for new members was definitely worth a few fractures or broken arms or legs.

"Who never came! Are they even here right now?" the boy persisted, looking around in fake curiosity.

The leader glared at the member. "Do you want me to tell Videl to break your other arm?" he threatened. The boy's eyes widened and he shook his head quickly, sat down, and stared at an empty corner.

"Any other complaints?" The leader looked around. "No? Okay, on to the next order of business, choosing a new suspect. Any ideas?"

One of the members in the back spoke up, "Well, there have been rumors that Gohan Son posed as the Great Saiyaman during the World Martial Arts Tournament and also turned into the Gold Fighter." Murmurs of agreement emerged in the room. "Even if these rumors aren't true," the nerd continued, " Gohan is still pretty weird."

"You're so right!" another nerd agreed. "Yesterday, I asked Gohan if he wanted to come over and play RPG's with me, and he said his mom was making him study! I mean, _I_ don't even study that much!" Some of the nerds that weren't paying attention looked up at this statement.

"Whoa," someone else said in awe, "and you're like the smartest person at Orange Star!"

"Second smartest," the nerd replied bitterly, "Before Gohan, I was the smartest. No one that smart can be human. He must be an alien!" Much of the club nodded, agreeing with him.

"So it's settled. Our next potential alien suspect is Gohan Son!" the leader yelled, pumping his fist into the air. A few claps and a random cough followed. "Don't get too excited," the leader said dully.

–

"Hey Gohan!" Erasa said cheerily as she and Sharpener walked up to Gohan and Videl in the hallway. The proximity of Gohan and Videl's lockers (they were alphabetically arranged) made it the ideal meeting spot between classes and afterschool.

"Hey Brains," Sharpener echoed. As he approached, he saw a nerd lurking in the corner. Sharpener turned around suddenly, causing the others to wonder what was going on.

"What's up Sharpener?" Gohan asked.

"Nerds. And lots of them. They travel in packs," Sharpener answered without turning around. A couple nerds who were hiding behind a trashcan suddenly lost their resolve and fled.

Gohan replied angrily, "Hey, if that's some sort of insult, I don't want to hea-"

"Chill out Gohan," Videl interrupted. "They're just a ton of freaks from that Alien Patrol club. They trailed me a couple weeks ago, but you'd think they would learn after I gave _four of them black eyes_!" Videl finished loudly.

A couple eeps could be heard and a general scurrying of feet followed as the remaining members of Alien Patrol tried to run away from a threat worse than the devil itself, Videl Satan.

"I guess they do remember."

Sharpener started to go after them; he was trained not to let a single nerd escape, especially if he could prevent it. Erasa grabbed his arm and asked, "Sharpener, where are you going?"

He formed a fist in one hand and placed it in the other, simulating a punch. "I think some nerds are asking for an old-fashioned beat-down . . . " Gohan looked at Sharpener with wide eyes.

"Knock yourself out," Videl replied nonchalantly, "and some nerds while your at it." Gohan transferred his gaze to Videl. Was all of that really necessary? Sharpener smirked and left the three, excited about getting back to his favorite sport: Nerd-hunting.

"Sharpener is my ride home, so I have to go. Bye you two!" Erasa said as she left, waving to Gohan and Videl. "Wait for me Sharpener!" Erasa ran off following Sharpener's path.

Gohan looked at Videl with a sideways glance after Erasa left. "So you're saying I shouldn't be worried that I'm being trailed by members of this weird club?"

"What's the worst they can do?" Videl replied. "Find out that you're Saiyaman? That's not exactly front page news, and would just add them to the list of the thousands that saw you at the tournament. Besides all they are really after is aliens, and those guys are so hopeless, they couldn't catch an alien if they were staring one in the face."

Gohan laughed nervously at that comment. "Yeah . . . that's ridiculous. Aliens . . . ," he scoffed and averted his glance away from her.

Videl looked at her friend with a measure of concern and said, "You're acting weird, Gohan. Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Nope," Gohan said entirely too fast. Videl looked at him with a raised eyebrow; Gohan's response had only increased Videl's curiosity.

–

"Welcome back to the Alien Patrol Club. It's nice to see you guys in good spirits," the leader said, addressing the room.

"Ugh . . . " the rest of the club replied.

"Our last meeting was two days ago. What have we found out since then?"

One nerd stood up holding a clipboard. "I have here everything we know about Gohan Son, thus far."

"Great," the leader responded. "Please, tell us what you have learned." The clipboard-nerd walked to the front of the room to speak to the whole club.

He started, "Gohan Son. Is he just an average teenager like you and me? The information I have gathered suggests otherwise. His age? From the records in the school archive, the boy is seventeen. However, when we questioned him, his answer sounded like he was confused whether he was seventeen or eighteen. I have here a tape recording of his answer."

Clipboard-nerd took out a tape recorder from his pocket. He turned the volume all the way up and pressed play. Gohan's voice was heard, "How old am I? That's a good question. Eighteen." A slight pause took place. "Wait, no. I'm seventeen . . . I think? Okay, final answer, seventeen."

Someone in the back yelled, "HA! He is an alien! He was probably kidnapped from his home planet when he was too young to remember and brought to Earth! That explains why he doesn't know his age!" Several other members came up with their own theories, each one as crazy as the next. The club leader, however, was silent.

He thought about the information and said, "These theories are all interesting, but then again they might all be wrong. We need some more concrete evidence."

Clipboard-nerd was happy to comply, "Well, when first asked where he lived, Gohan told our source that his home was in the 439 East District. Most of us may have thought he was joking, but we checked the records, and discovered he was telling the truth. We all know that the fastest mode of transportation from there to Satan City is the jet copter, which can make the trip in a couple hours. How is it possible that Gohan, who doesn't have a car or a license, can get to his home and back everyday? Hmmmm . . . "

"That's more like it!" the leader exclaimed. "You have any more information?"

"Loads," Clipboard-nerd declared. "But, the best is saved for last. There wasn't much information on the Gold fighter, and since all the cameras at the World Martial Arts Tournament were mysteriously destroyed, there wasn't information about Saiyaman's fight. However, most of us have heard the rumors linking Gohan Son to _both_ of these heroes and I have information regarding Gohan and Saiyaman."

"Gohan is Saiyaman!" someone yelled.

"I'm getting to that, " Clipboard-nerd said, unperturbed. "Most of you may have a class with Gohan. You know, despite his knowledge, he is perpetually late, and even on days he is late, he skips out early for 'bathroom breaks.' However, I propose that whenever Gohan leaves the classroom for more than ten minutes at a time, it is to assist Videl Satan as Saiyaman!" Several cheers rang out following his declaration.

"That's a pretty wild claim," the leader, acting as the voice of reason, replied. "Do you have the facts to back it up?"

"For the most part. A lot of the information we have gathered takes time to interpret, but if Gohan is the Great Saiyaman, then not only does he have super strength, he can fly. That would explain how he commutes from his home to Satan City. And we all know, if he is Saiyaman, the only explanation for these powers is that he is an alien."

"Okay," the club leader said. "You know your duties. I will remind you that someone must be trailing Gohan at all times. Now let's go get us an alien!"

* * *

**A/N: **Before you go and get all offended, just know I have nothing against nerds. Under the definition, I would definitely qualify as one. In this story I'm using the classical definition of nerds, with all of that high school distortion that comes from television and movies. I will definitely have fun with this story. I wanted to try my hand at Gohan-torture, but at the same time keep it pretty original. And voila . . . this story was born. It is going to be short, don't expect more than 5 chapters. Anyways, as always, please review, and hope you enjoyed reading it.


	2. Unhelpful Scientists

**DISCLAIMER: **I'm pretty sure I don't own anything as important as DBZ. Pretty sure . . . Yeah. Didn't think so.

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Alien Patrol Club

The bell signaling the start of the weekend rang, and the students filed out of their classrooms. One student remained, slowly packing up his things, hoping not to get caught in the rush in the school hallways. The student felt he had a problem on his hands, earlier in the week he had invited Videl Satan over for dinner, actually she had invited herself, but now, with the discovery of the Alien Patrol stalkers, he wasn't sure the dinner was the smartest of ideas.

Granted, it had taken a lot of effort to convince her father that the dinner was not just an opportunity for him to, in Mr. Satan's words, 'get his hands on his precious daughter.' If he canceled, all that effort would have been for naught. Not only that, but Videl's curiosity would probably be piqued by the fact that he didn't want her around. It hardly helped that the two hadn't talked much since the hallway incident. Even when he was the Great Saiyaman and helped her fight crime, they had worked silently, barely stringing enough words together to form a conversation.

She probably thought she could break him with the silence, but he wasn't going to give. She'd have to force his very last secret out of him, like she had the others. It was a wonder Gohan had even kept a secret this long. He was a horrible liar when it mattered; with absolutely zero talent for making up stories.

"Gohan," a familiar voice said. "Let's go. I know we haven't talked much, but that doesn't mean dinner with your family is off, does it?" Gohan turned around and saw Videl.

"Oh, yeah . . . right, dinner," Gohan replied, as if it was the last thing on his mind. "Um . . . do you mind if we go by Capsule Corp? I need to pick up Goten." Gohan couldn't help but think of his ulterior motive for visiting Bulma's home; he wanted her opinion on the whole Alien Patrol club business. Gohan still wasn't sure whether to be worried or laugh whenever the aforementioned club was brought up.

"Um . . . okay? But couldn't your dad just pick him up with that teleportation thing he does?" Videl asked. A pang of worry hit Gohan; he did not want to explain his other reason for wanting to visit Capsule Corporation.

"Um . . . well . . ." Gohan paused to think of something. "Yeah he could, I guess. But can't we just be nice?" Gohan smiled and placed a hand behind his head.

Videl looked suspiciously at Gohan, who was acting like he normally did when something was up. "Okay, Gohan. But you've been acting weird lately. There's something you're not telling me, and _I'm _going to find out what it is!" she vowed and walked in front of him.

Gohan groaned in reply and quickened his pace to catch up to Videl, who had gone ahead. Once they reached a secluded area, Videl took off with Gohan at her heels.

–

Meanwhile, a nerd on the other side of the school had a secret mission of his own for the weekend. It was the first time, since their decision that Gohan would be their new target, that someone would visit his home. The situation was very different from one they had encountered before. Usually, the person who was trailing their suspect could follow them out of the school and they would both arrive at the suspect's house within the hour. However, no one really knew where Gohan went afterschool, because after the bell rang, the boy usually disappeared. Not only that, but Gohan's home was far, far away from the school. This nerd was finding that out the hard way.

He had been flying for an hour in silence. The farther he flew, the farther away from civilization he got, as cities faded into suburbs, and neighborhoods became periodic houses. He had long since put the airplane on autopilot, and the scenery was starting to bore him. The flight would have continued to be unbearably boring if he hadn't come prepared. In order to combat the feeling, the pilot had brought his homework. You know what they say, 'A nerd with homework is like a starving man with food.' At least, that was what Sharpener said whenever he forced the poor pilot to do all his homework.

"Wizkid to Hunter, are you there? Come in, over," the pilot's communication device (aka walkie-talkie) sounded. He recognized the voice of the speaker; it was the leader of Alien Patrol Club. He had half a mind to ignore the message and not answer, but then again, he was almost done with the homework and didn't want to finish it too fast.

The pilot slowly grabbed the walkie-talkie. "Yeah, I'm here. What do you want? Over," he said.

"How far are you from the target's home? Over," the leader asked.

The pilot scratched his head. "Um . . . I've only been flying for an hour or so. Still quite a bit of time left." The pilot held his walkie-talkie in his hand, waiting for a response. When one didn't come, he placed the walkie talkie down, assuming the conversation was over.

As he put the device down, he heard a sound come from it. "You need to say 'over' when you're done speaking. Geez, have you ever talked on one of these before? Anyways, I wish you the best of luck on your mission. Wizkid is over and out." The communicator went silent, and the pilot shoved it back in his pocket. Shrugging his shoulders, he finished up the last of his own homework and went to work on Sharpener's, reminding himself to get every third question wrong.

–

When Gohan arrived at Capsule Corporation, he half expected something to be up in flames. Knowing that Goten and Trunks were around, and together, put him on the edge. He could almost feel something was amiss, but he didn't know exactly what it was.

Gohan and Videl touched down on the Capsule Corp. lawn and headed through the front door. After being told by the front desk worker that Bulma was 'around,' the two left the lobby in search for her or either of the boys. The two eventually came to a hallway that split off in two directions.

"So um . . . ," Gohan started.

"I guess," Videl continued. "I'll go down the left . . . "

"And I'll take the right," Gohan finished. After an awkward nodding of heads towards one another, they both headed down their opposite hallways, wondering what they'd come upon next.

After about a minute of walking without seeing a soul, Gohan wondered if it was possible to have a house that was _too _big. '_It'd be a pain to clean this whole thing,_' Gohan thought to himself, '_Glad that's not my job._' Gohan continued to walk forward, thinking about high school and his classes with Videl, and homework, and working with Videl, and his secrets, and running away from Videl. He blinked a few times in confusion. Fortunately, he snapped out of his thoughts in time to see a very angry-looking Vegeta coming his way.

"Hey, Vegeta!" Gohan said with a smile. Vegeta curled his lip in disgust, and continued walking. "Bad day, huh? Me too," Gohan continued. "Have you seen Goten and Trunks?"

Vegeta stopped. "The _brat_ and his _friend _are bawling their eyes out in there." Vegeta pointed to a closed room where muffled sobs could be heard. "Do not ask me why." Vegeta continued down the hallway mumbling something about 'idiotic women and their soft children.'

Gohan watched Vegeta leave, wondering what he did to the two boys that got them in such a state. He wasn't sure he wanted to find out, but it was his brother in there. So, he steeled his nerves, walked towards the door and opened it. He peered in and saw two boys whose eyes were still a little red from tears, but had just about stopped crying. Gohan breathed a sigh of relief, at least he didn't have to deal with two crying, saiyan kids. But then again, there were still two sad-looking saiyan kids to handle.

Despite the tears, as soon as Goten laid eyes on his brother, his face broke into a smile and he scrambled to his feet. "Gohan!" he yelled, jumping onto Gohan's chest and grabbing hold of his brother's school clothes.

Trunks sniffled a bit and wiped his eyes, trying not to look too 'weak' in front of Goten's older brother. "Hey, Gohan," he said.

"Hey, you two," Gohan replied. "I gotta' wonder, how'd you end up like this? I ran into Vegeta on the way, and he told me to look in here."

Trunks spoke first, "It's a long story, and we don't feel like sharing."

"That's okay if you don't, Trunks. I'm fine with telling Gohan," Goten stated.

"Well, um Goten, this story doesn't really put us in the best light," Trunks said through gritted teeth.

Gohan, hearing what Trunks had said, cut in and said, "It's fine. Please continue, Goten."

"Kay, Gohan," Goten started. "So, basically . . . Trunks had this idea for a prank we could play on Mr. Vegeta that involved messing with his lunch. But after it was done, Mr. Vegeta got really angry and said he would 'blow the whole house up with the two of us in it.' But, Ms. Bulma heard him, and got really mad. They yelled at each other, and in the end Mr. Vegeta said he would throw us in the gravity room with no food and turn it up to like a trillion times the earth's gravity. Trunks and I started crying, not about the gravity room, but about the whole no food thing, because we both missed lunch setting up the prank."

"And here we are . . . , " Trunks finished.

Gohan said dumfounded, "That's probably one of the strangest stories I have ever heard." The room was silent for a moment.

Goten broke the silence and said, "So why are you here, Gohan?"

Gohan replied, "Oh, actually, I came with Videl."

"Ooooh, Videl," Trunks teased.

"Yeah," Gohan continued with a nervous laugh, "We're here to take you home, Goten. But we need to find Trunks's mom first. I think I should talk to her, before I just steal you," Gohan responded with a chuckle.

Trunks touched his chin in thought and said, "Um . . . I haven't seen my mom in the last couple minutes, but she said she was going to the kitchen. Follow me!" Trunks took off down the hallway. Goten and Gohan looked at one another, shrugged, and followed.

The three boys ran down the main hallways for what seemed like miles. Gohan was getting fed up and asking whether every other door was the right one. They eventually came upon a long stretch without any doors, and Gohan resolved to yank open the next one he saw. True to his word, Gohan walked brusquely to cut in front of Trunks and grabbed the first door on his left. What he saw was something that he was expecting.

"Oh, great," he muttered to himself. "What are those two doing here?" The room was familiar to Gohan. It was the one the Briefs spent most of their time in, because of the close proximity to the refrigerator. In the room, Gohan saw Bulma and Videl sitting at a table talking to one another. It appeared their conversation was very interesting, the way neither of them looked up when the three boys entered. And if his guess was correct, he probably knew their conversation's subject.

"Hello, ladies," Gohan said, interrupting the two. Goten and Trunks looked as if they wanted to add their own greeting, but Gohan silenced them with a wave of his arms. "What might you be talking about?" he asked bluntly.

"Hi, Gohan," Bulma replied, looking up for the first time. "How are you guys?"

"Hungry," Goten and Trunks replied in unison.

Bulma laughed. "You two saiyans are lucky I'm rich, or else I wouldn't be able to afford all this food. Go wait in the kitchen, I'll just wrap up my conversation with Videl." Goten and Trunks left the room quickly at the mention of food.

"Saiyan?" Videl asked. "What's that? I remember Krillin used that word during the Martial Arts Tournament."

Bulma sneaked a glance in Gohan's direction, and the teenage boy put a finger over his mouth, as if he was pleading for silence. "Oh, so that's how it is," Bulma said out loud. "So he hasn't told you?"

"Told me what?" Videl replied angrily.

"You'd think it would have come up, what with Majin Buu and all. Oh well, it's not my secret to reveal. Gohan's going to have to tell you this himself," Bulma reasoned.

Videl, hearing the word secret, pointed to Gohan and said, "Aha! So you _have_ a secret you haven't told me!"

"W- what are you talking abou-" Gohan started, but was interrupted by the ringing of a telephone. "I'll get it!" he yelled, and vaulted over a chair that was in his way. "Brief's residence, Gohan Son speaking."

"Gohan, honey? Where are you?" A very familiar voice asked.

Gohan nearly dropped the phone in surprise. "Mom?"

"Yes, dear weren't you and Videl supposed to be here twenty minutes ago?" Chi-Chi asked.

Gohan scratched his head, "Uh . . . yeah, but we decided to pick up Goten. That's okay, right?"

Chi-Chi paused before responding, "Yes, Gohan. It's fine. I was going to send your father, but since you're there, do you mind inviting Bulma, Vegeta and Trunks to dinner? I think Goten would enjoy Trunks's company, and I haven't seen Bulma in ages."

"It's been a week, Mom," Gohan said, rolling his eyes.

"Just do as I say, Gohan. And I hope you are treating Videl properly. It wouldn't do to have your future wife and my future daughter, think you are rude, would it?" Chi-Chi asked.

"_Mom!_" Gohan replied, his face turning red from the embarrassment.

Chi-Chi, taking no notice of her distressed son, merely said, "Good-bye, Gohan. See you at home."

When Gohan hung up the phone, Bulma looked at him and asked, "Chi-Chi, right?" Gohan nodded gravely. He shifted his eyes at Videl for a fraction of a second, and then back towards Bulma, who picked up Gohan's silent meaning. "Well, Videl, it seems Gohan wants to tell me something in private. Do you mind helping Goten and Trunks get something to eat? I can't leave those two in a kitchen by themselves for much time before something goes wrong. The kitchen is the room around the corner." Videl looked like she wanted to stick around, but she reluctantly left.

After Videl had disappeared around the corner, Gohan took a seat, and motioned for Bulma to do the same. "So, I have a problem with this group at my school called the Alien Patrol Club . . . ," he began.

"Wait, what?" Bulma asked immediately.

"They're this club of nerds at my school that make it their goal to investigate every single person and see if they are an alien," Gohan explained. "Ridiculous, right?"

"So, let me guess. The guys from this club are coming after you?" Bulma replied.

Gohan said, "Basically." He looked expectantly at Bulma, hoping for a helpful response. Anything, even sympathy. What he didn't expect was laughter.

"Of all people! Haha! An alien! That's too rich!" Bulma howled with laughter. "Haha! Oh, stop! It's too funny!"

Gohan replied, "This is serious. If they find out something, I don't know what'll happen!" Gohan looked across the table to find Bulma clutching her gut, trying to keep a straight face . . . but failing miserably. Gohan frowned. "Well I didn't come here just to be laughed at," he declared and stood up. "I'm leaving. I'll see you at dinner." Gohan walked into the kitchen to get Goten and Videl.

As Gohan left Bulma yelled after him, "Dinner! HA! Will your stalkers be there too?" Gohan walked into the kitchen, grabbed the arms of Goten and Videl, and, after apologizing to Trunks and promising to see him at dinner, left the building.

As the trio took off, Videl, annoyed at their sudden exit, decided to aggravate Gohan by saying, "Well, I for one, had a great time!"

Gohan replied rudely, "I _don't _want to hear about it."

* * *

**A/N: **You will soon learn that I LIVE for these author notes. Oh, and be thankful that I skipped out on finishing my history project for finishing this. The chapter's pretty long, I dunno if this length will be something to expect or just be thankful for. So, hope you like the story so far. More about the club will come next. tTanks for reviewing! I really didn't expect _that _many to be written, I guess its just the alluring call of the Gohan torture. So please review in the future! Also, forget what I said about the length of this story in the first chapter, this might turn real long, real fast. One last thing, I try my best to eliminate as many spelling and grammar errors as possible, but since I am the only one editing, it is almost impossible to get every one. Please bear with me, even tell me what I might have missed. I might learn something which will prevent me from making the same mistake in the future.


	3. Family Dinners

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own jack. or jill. or a hill. The way this is going I might as well say I don't own that whole nursery rhyme or DBZ.

* * *

Alien Patrol Club

When the three arrived at the Son home, Gohan opened the door and loudly announced, "We're home!" He proceeded to walk through doorway with his brother and Videl right behind him.

"Gohan!" Chi-Chi yelled back from the kitchen. "How many times have I told you not to yell in the house!"

"But mom, you're the one who's-" Gohan started.

"No excuses Gohan," Chi-Chi interrupted as she walked out to face the trio. "Now, you and Goten, go wash up and get ready to eat." The two looked as if they would protest, but in the end, they complied to their mother's wishes. Noticing their guest, Chi-Chi added, "Hello, Videl. It's nice to see you. I hope my two boys are treating you well."

"Oh, them? Those two are great," Videl replied, caught slightly off-guard.

As Gohan was washing his hands, the bitter reality hit him, hard. He realized that a curious Videl was going to be in the same room as . . . as . . . a bunch of people he didn't really want her in a room with, including his romance-obsessed mother and the short-tempered Prince of All Saiyans. Gohan turned off the faucet and sank to his knees in the bathroom. '_Maybe I could just . . . stay here for the rest of the night._'

Just then, the door was banged on roughly by Goten. "Hurry up, Gohan! I gotta' go too," he said.

'_Wishful thinking_,' Gohan thought to himself. He got up and dusted himself off. Gohan then took a deep breath and stepped out of the bathroom.

Goten, seeing his brother come out, rushed in saying, "Took you long enough!" Ignoring his brother's statement, Gohan walked to the kitchen where Videl stood awkwardly to the side while Chi-Chi cooked up a storm. His mother was chatting the whole time, and periodically looked over her shoulder to see if Videl agreed with her. Gohan stood in the doorway, unsure whether it was a good idea to enter or not. However, when Videl saw him, she mouthed "Save me," and Gohan figured it was probably a good time to jump in.

Interrupting the one-sided conversation, Gohan said, "Oh, uh . . . Mom, where's dad? I haven't seen him since I got here."

"Gohan, you're back," Chi-Chi replied. "You asked about your father? Well, he told me about an hour ago that he was going to visit Piccolo. He said he'd be back before dinner, and knowing your father, he will be."

"Did he tell you why?" Gohan asked.

Chi-Chi looked thoughtful. "He said something about sparring, I think." Gohan breathed a sigh of relief. With some luck, his father would get caught up in the spar, and come late to dinner. Or he and Piccolo would knock each other out, and he wouldn't be there at all. Gohan felt a little bad about his ill wishes towards his father, but he knew the less time Vegeta and his dad were in the same room together, the better. Especially when that same room included Videl. Actually, instead of hoping Goku wouldn't show, he should have wished a certain Saiyan Prince would think the meal was too far below him and would not bother to come.

Just then, a knock was heard and Gohan went over to answer it. Knowing his luck, it probably was Vegeta, and Gohan scanned the ki's outside to make sure.

"_Hurry up and open the door, before I blast it off!_" a familiar voice yelled, rendering Gohan's ki-scan useless. That was Vegeta all right, calm and . . . collected as usual.

"Okay, okay. I'm coming," Gohan said. Now that Vegeta was there, the only thing Gohan could hope for was that his father wouldn't be.

–

"Oof . . . Geez Piccolo, you're really heavy," Goku complained. He was supporting Piccolo on his right side.

"Well I'm sorry I can't be more help, seeing as you knocked me through a #$%# mountain range!" Piccolo replied sarcastically. He was in rotten shape with cuts and scrapes all over his body, but he had a long purple gash running down his leg.

Goku said, "Okay, okay. I said I'm sorry!"

"You were the one who said you wanted to 'take it easy,'" Piccolo grumbled. "You said you had to be back in time for dinner or something."

"Oh yeah! Dinner!" Goku said quickly. "Hey, Piccolo, since I knocked you through a mountain, the least I could do is invite you to dinner."

Piccolo growled, "Goku, need I remind you, I don't need to eat."

Goku responded, "Well, you should still come. Besides Gohan and Goten will be happy to see you, and Bulma and them will be over too."

Piccolo didn't say anything else, which Goku took as silent approval. "Alright," Goku said. "First stop is Dende's place!" Goku put two fingers to his forehead and concentrated on Dende's ki.

Piccolo's eyes widened. "Wait what? You never said any-" Piccolo was too late, and while he was mid-sentence their two forms blurred out of view. The next thing Piccolo knew he was standing atop the Lookout, an arm still around Goku.

"Well, we can't walk into my house all bloody," Goku said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Last time I did that, Chi-Chi yelled for an hour." Piccolo rolled his eyes as Goku took them both towards Dende.

Dende, who had recovered from the shock of seeing Goku and Piccolo pop up, ran over to the two. He helped Piccolo, deciding he looked the worse of the two. "Goku," he said shaking his head. "You really pulled a number on him." Dende put his hands on Piccolo's back and used his healing powers on the weakened Namekian. Dende moved on to Goku.

"Thanks, Dende. I don't know what I'd do without you," Goku said as he felt himself regain his energy, and the smaller cuts on his body heal.

When he was finished healing both the warriors, Dende stood up and said, "There you go, and next time, if the injuries aren't too bad, let them heal on their own. It's not always a good thing to accelerate the body's healing process. Besides, I'm supposed to watch this whole planet, not just you two." Goku nodded in agreement and was about to take his familiar stance to Instant Transmission the two back to his home, but Piccolo caught his hand halfway to his forehead.

"Not again, Goku," Piccolo said. "That technique is so unpredictable, I never know if you're going to teleport the two of us to the bottom of the ocean! This time, we fly." Goku frowned, but did not disagree. After waving good-bye to both Dende and Mr. Popo, the two flew away from the Lookout.

–

"Where the heck is this place?" the nerd piloting the jet-copter said to himself. He had been flying for three to four hours top speed and from his calculation, he should have arrived by then. However, all the pilot could see were trees, trees, and more trees. He consulted the map where he circled the address in red, and his coordinates showed that he was right over the red area. The pilot decided to circle the copter around. If he didn't see anything he resolved to call 'Wizkid' again. After coming out so far, he wasn't in a rush to return home.

As soon as the vehicle turned in the air, the pilot saw something. There was a streak of light in the distance that seemed to grow every second, as if it was coming closer and closer. By the time it came close enough to make out, the light passed over the jet-copter. However, in the split second it took to pass over, the pilot could see that the initial streak of light was actually two, but very close together. Although the light seemed relatively harmless, the force of the streak was felt after it passed. It felt like a very, very strong wind hit the plane.

"Way cool." The pilot fingered his communication device, wondering whether the phenomenon he just witnessed was important enough to report to the head of the club. He figured that, although the light streaks were cool to watch, they weren't worth reporting. Instead, the nerd actually decided to turn the plane back around and follow the lights, hoping they would lead to something.

About ten minutes later, the nerd saw a building that looked odd by itself, surrounded by a whole forest. Realizing it must be the house he was looking for, the pilot landed his jet-copter half a mile from it, in order to keep out of notice. He stepped out of the plane and capsulized it. Stealthily, he made his way towards the house, frequently hiding behind trees to hide his appearance. When he got close enough to the home, he circled around the back and stood in a bush, looking through the window.

The pilot put his eyes to the glass, and saw a rather large group gathered around a table with a _huge _amount of food on it. A few of the people seemed to be laughing while a couple of them had stoic expressions. They hadn't started eating yet, the nerd deduced, and one of the chairs was still empty. He decided to look more closely at the individual people, and found Gohan sitting in a corner, looking slightly nervous.

To the boy's left was Videl, who was actively participating in the conversation. On Gohan's right, however, there was a man that looked particularly under the weather. His skin had a greenish tinge that he had never seen before. The nerd couldn't help but stare.

He couldn't have been watching for more than ten seconds when the green man all of a sudden tensed up and looked directly at him. Faster than he ever thought he could move, the nerd ducked down into the bush and put a hand over his mouth to prevent himself from crying out. He tried to be as quiet as possible, but he thought the extremely loud pounding of his heart was sure to give him away.

How had that even _happened_, anyway? That was no lucky, I'm-going-to-glance-out-the-window-for-a-second look. He couldn't explain it, but somehow the green man had _known _he was there. And if he hadn't known it before, he certainly knew now, the people he was dealing with weren't exactly 'normal.'

–

"What's up, Piccolo?" Gohan asked, noticing the serious look on his friend's face.

"You guys have company," Piccolo replied.

"What?" Gohan exclaimed. "What do you mean?"

Trunks groaned. "Can we please continue this conversation later? Preferably after we eat?"

"No," Gohan said forcefully. "This is important. Besides we're still waiting for my mom."

Chi-Chi, who was the only one not sitting down, called from the kitchen, "I'm coming! Just wait a second."

"I think I know who he's talking about," Bulma said smugly from across the table. "Your stalkers are here aren't they?"

Gohan's eyes widened and he said unconvincingly, "I . . . I don't know what she's talking abou-"

"Wait, how does Bulma know about those weirdo's from school?" Videl interrupted. "I thought you weren't going to tell anyone, Gohan."

"What's she talking about, Gohan?" his father asked him. "What stalkers from school?"

Gohan looked around the table frantically, and Piccolo came to his rescue. "Actually, there's only one 'stalker' as you call them. Besides he left, there's nothing to worry about," his mentor responded. Videl looked back and forth at Gohan and Piccolo, unsatisfied with how that conversation went. But, before she could say anything about it, Chi-Chi came into the dining room with a large pot of food.

"Now," Chi-Chi said as she placed the last of the meal on the table and settled into her seat. "Who's hungry?"

"We are!" cried the voices of Goten and Trunks. "Let's eat!"

"Heh . . . heh . . . ,"Gohan said uneasily, aware of all the stares he was receiving from several of the table's various occupants. Grabbing a steaming bowl from the table, he continued, "Anyone want some rice?"

* * *

**A/N: **Even though this was a fast . . . ish update for me it still took a while, and that's basically because of my finals last week. So I hope you're enjoying the story, I definitely am. Thanks for reading, and thanks to reviewing, and a special shoutout to my new beta-reader Dawnfire101, thanks for all the help! I really appreciate it. So please read and review!


	4. An Obvious Conclusion

**DISCLAIMER: **You can believe what you want to believe, there's nothing stopping you, especially not a 15-year-old girl who likes to write DBZ fanfiction. So, I dare ya', say I own DBZ. The only thing that matters is that I know I don't.

* * *

Alien Patrol Club

"Where is it?" a nerd asked himself over and over. "I swear I landed it right here!" This nerd was right about one thing, his copter _had _landed there. However, in the chaos of his retreat, the boy had forgotten he had capsulized the plane, and it was lying somewhere in the bottom of his bag. For a nerd he wasn't very smart, was he?

After frantically searching the forest clearing for ten minutes, the nerd hung his head. His jet copter was nowhere to be found, and his mother was going to give him an earful when he got home . . . if he got home.

Maybe this was a sign, telling him that his time spent watching the Son home wasn't up. Maybe he shouldn't be giving up so easily. Sure, there was some sort of Hulk-ish person that had some sort of creepy sixth-sense going on, but what could he do? It wasn't like he could form some sort of energy ball that would wipe him off the face of the planet . . . at least he didn't _think _that could happen.

It was then that the nerd made up his mind; he would go back toward Gohan's home and fulfill his duty as a member of the Alien Patrol Club. The nerd knew what he was going to do; he had a goal. He steeled his expression and prepared to carry out his plan, but there was one problem.

His feet didn't seem like they wanted to move. For the moment, he was stuck. He may have fooled his brain into thinking that he wasn't afraid of what was waiting for him, but his body wasn't as gullible. The nerd took his time to vent his frustration towards the heavens, yelling at the top of his lungs.

"Move, stupid legs," he grunted. The nerd moved one leg forward shakily. He took a deep breath and moved forward. Every step he took made it easier to take the next. Soon enough he was walking normally toward the home.

With one last look back at where he came, he thought, '_Look out aliens, here I come!'_

_–_

Gohan was in the middle of the most awkward dinners of his life. And he was a Saiyan! Dinner was supposed to be the best part of the day! Now he was in an incredibly stupid mess that there seemed to be any hope of escaping from. Surrounded on all sides by suspicious faces, yeah . . . that was exactly how he wanted to spend his Friday night.

Gohan's normally blistering eating pace had almost slowed to a standstill. He kept his gaze fixated on his plate, not wanting to look around the table. He moved around the food on his plate with a fork.

"Are you gonna' eat that?" Goten asked his older brother between bites, gesturing with his fork at a chicken leg Gohan hadn't touched.

"Uh . . . no, you can have it, Goten. As a matter of fact," Gohan stood up abruptly, shaking the table. He continued, "I'm not really hungry, I'll just . . . do some homework in my room."

Chi-Chi looked worriedly at her eldest son, "Gohan . . . ," she said softly, "is something wrong?" His father echoed her in a less . . . coherent manner, but Gohan understood his meaning, even with a full mouth.

Gohan frowned and responded with more anger than was necessary, "I'm fine, okay! I just have work to do!" Gohan walked out of the room, his footsteps slightly heavier than normal, portraying his less than perfect mood. The dining table was silent except for the _clinks _of Vegeta's utensils hitting his plate, because he was the only one who hadn't noticed Gohan's flight. Either he hadn't noticed or didn't care.

"So, what's wrong with him?" Goku asked. "He's been acting really strange."

"Gohan's just . . . ," Videl said with some thought, "got some stuff on his mind."

Chi-Chi stood up from her chair and said, "I'm going to go check on him."

"Let the boy work this out. He doesn't need to be coddled like some weak human," Vegeta said without looking up from his plate. He immediately started eating again, and if they hadn't heard his voice, they would have thought he hadn't spoken at all. With Vegeta's declaration, all voices were silent. Chi-Chi hesitantly settled back into her seat, and everyone eventually resumed their meal.

–

Gohan closed the door to his room with extra care than was necessary. Whenever he was angry there was a greater chance of something breaking around him. He walked into a corner of the room and put his hands against the wall. He pressed his hands against the wall with as much force as he dared, and brought his head so close to the wall that his nose was almost touching it.

'_I'm so stupid!_' he thought to himself. '_How could I have let it go that far? With Videl there things can't-_'

"Shoot! I left them in the same room as Videl! What if they tell her something? Or worse . . . she tells them? I can just imagine how that would go . . . "

"The brat? Chased by humans? Now that's pathetic. I say the best way to get rid of the problem is by killing them. Better yet, I'll do it myself." The Saiyan prince was probably the last person he would want informed of his situation. It was a pity that Bulma had likely already informed him.

"Oh, Gohan, I feel bad about laughing at him earlier. I pro- ha! promise, I won't ha ha! anymo- ha! I can't-! Haha! Stop!" At this point, the Capsule Corporations owner would fall out of her chair and laugh until someone snapped her out of it.

"My poor baby, what have they done to you at this school? It's all the teachers' fault. How could they condone such a club? That's it, starting tomorrow, we are pulling him out of that oversized home for delinquents," Gohan doubted leaving school was the answer to his problems. Besides whenever something concerning him went wrong, his mother would blame outside sources completely unrelated to the problem at hand.

"Hate to break it to you, kid, but the best way to get these guys off your back is to chase them off. Diplomacy isn't going to get you anywhere," his mentor would say, in his own way echoing Vegeta's suggestion.

It was strange to think about, but his father would probably be the one adult with the most useful advice, depending on how close he was to a plate of any sort of food or dessert. "Oh . . . I don't know much about school clubs, but I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. Mmmm . . . This ice cream is good."

"Gohan's got people going after him? Cool! He's so popular! I wish I was just like him when I get older." His brother _would_ somehow turn this into another my-brother-is-the-best-in-the-world situation.

"I dunno. It's your problem. Did you ask my dad? He probably has good advice." The little urchin would choose to side with Vegeta, it was just how he worked.

Through his little fantasy, Gohan gathered that if he wanted to keep life as simple as possible, he'd have to keep a close eye on Bulma and an even closer eye on Videl. Gohan looked up, only to come face to face with the wall. He was almost startled that he was still in his room and rushed outside, hoping beyond hope Videl hadn't said anything about what was going on.

"Where is she?" Gohan said as he burst through the kitchen. His mother was washing the dishes and talking to Bulma who was leaning against the fridge.

"Who?" Bulma replied.

Gohan tapped a foot on the ground in anxiety. "Videl," he said.

"She's outside with-" As soon as he heard, Gohan took off in a gust of wind. "-Goten and Trunks," Bulma replied. "You know!" Bulma yelled after him. "You could have waited until I was done!"

Chi-Chi just sighed and looked at the door Gohan had gone through. "Ah, young love," she recited wistfully.

–

"So, boys," Videl said to her attentive audience, namely Trunks and Goten, "what exactly does the word 'alien' mean to you?"

"What word?" Trunks asked back. In actuality, he had heard the word, but it was a fun way to annoy older people.

Videl replied, "The word 'alien.' You know pointy ears, green skin, another planet? That sort of stuff." For some reason, that explanation struck a chord in Videl. It felt like she was on the verge of an important discovery, there was just one more clue. Or maybe she was getting ahead of herself . . .

Goten asked abruptly,"Is this a trick question?"

"No, Goten," Videl responded exasperatedly. "If you guys don't want to answer that's fine, I'll just go." Videl backed up slowly, hoping the two would call her back.

"No, wait, Videl. Stay! I know stuff about aliens!" Goten said in response to Videl's statement. "Aliens are so cool! They have superpowers and stuff! I know so- AHHH!" Goten was interrupted by a kick in the back from Trunks. He flew forward, painfully skidding his face against the dirt some distance from where he was standing. Goten got up gingerly and glared back at his purple-haired friend. "What was that for?"

"Do you even remember the conversation we had with your brother before dinner?" Trunks asked his seemingly forgetful friend.

Goten recounted being with Trunks in a dark room with Gohan, whose appearance resembled a dragon. As he talked steam came out of his ears and fire threatened to come out of his mouth. "And don't even _think _about mentioning Saiyans while Videl's over, or else Vegeta and no lunch will be the least you'll have to worry about!"

Goten couldn't help but release an involuntary shiver, his brother could be scary when he wanted to. But, just because he was right, it didn't give Trunks a reason to hit him!

Trunks walked over and patted Goten's back. He eventually asked, "No hard feelings, right?"

"Definitely," Goten answered. He took the opportunity of his friend's momentary weakness to elbow him in the stomach. Trunks doubled over, more in surprise than pain. Goten back flipped over Trunk's bent form, sending a ki-blast which Trunks dodged by fazing out. The game was on.

'_What just happened?_' Videl asked herself. For one second she was interrogating the two demon-children, the next it was an all out war between them. And right when it seemed like she was going to find out something! Life just wasn't fair.

Videl watched the two for a couple minutes, but as the fight went on the boys picked up their speed and power so much that she couldn't keep track of them. The sun was also going down, and she did not want to be in the middle of a strange forest at night, super strength or no super strength.

Videl wandered back the way she had come, going slower than normal, trying to take in the beauty of her environment . . . Either that, or she was lost, but she really didn't want to think about that possibility. Now would have been a good time to have learned that ki-sensing thing all of Gohan's friends seemed to be able to do. By the time Videl saw the recognizable lights of the Son home, the sun had almost set. The only sign of it was the slightly orange tint in the sky.

She approached the house from the back, and as she got closer, she noticed something off. There was a teenager hiding in a bush looking into Gohan's house with a pair of cheap binoculars! How did she know they were cheap? She could see the tag!

She crept up behind the boy and whispered loudly into his ear, "Hey!"

The boy looked over his shoulder back at her, "Oh, hey Videl." He turned back around and looked through his binoculars again for a couple seconds. He then did a double take. "Oh! Videl! Crud!"

"Busted," Videl said with a smile as the nerd scrambled to his feet. "Now what the _heck_ are you doing here? In a bush? Looking through binoculars?" Videl practically yelled.

"Shhhh!" the nerd replied, putting a hand over Videl and running away from the house. As soon as he took his hand away, he was on his back. 0.24 seconds, that was how fast Videl had flipped him.

"Don't you _ever _do that again!" she said to the boy on the ground. He gulped visibly. "Now answer my question. And how do you know my name?"

The boy made no move to get up. "I know your name because we're in the same grade," he responded. "I'm in your math class, remember? My name's Mark Ehr, just call me Mark. As to what I'm doing here, that is classified information."

Videl put a foot on the boy's chest, "_Don't _mess with me," she said dangerously, applying a small amount of pressure.

Mark's eyes widened. "Okay, I'm here to spy on Gohan for the Alien Patrol Club. Please don't hurt me!" he begged, his voice much higher than before. Fortunately for him, Videl lifted her foot and offered him a hand. He slowly sat up and took her hand, pulling himself to his feet. Dusting his clothes off Mark stated, "Well, Videl, it was nice talking to you. And remember, anyone can be an alien, even your closest friend." Mark walked about ten calm steps before breaking into a run.

When he was almost out of Videl's line of sight, he tripped on a rock and was brought to the ground. All of his stuff fell out of his bag, including a misplace jet-copter capsule. He thanked the heavens and threw the capsule. He finally had a one-way ticket out of there.

–

Videl stayed outside for a while after Mark had left. She felt like there was something she wasn't getting, something obvious that she would kick herself as soon as she found it out. Mark's words had meant something to her, she just didn't know what, and it was bothering her to no end.

Just then Gohan stumbled out of a couple trees looking very dirty, and more than a little tired. His clothes were in bad shape with a few tears in a couple places. He looked relieved to see her and said, "I have been looking for you _everywhere_! Where were you?"

"Oh, you know, around," she replied shrugging. Videl went over all the information she had gathered one more time. The Alien Patrol Club was after Gohan, and he seemed almost afraid of them. Everyone else knew why he was nervous, other than her. Mark told her that anyone could be an alien. And what was it she had said earlier?

"Hey! Videl, are you listening?" Gohan asked waving a hand in front of her.

Videl blinked, bringing herself back into reality. "Oh, uh . . . yeah! Um, how'd you get so . . . " Videl was too preoccupied trying to remember what she had told Goten about aliens. She had said something about another planet . . .

"Dirty?" Gohan finished. "I told you before-"

Pointy ears . . .

"I broke up Trunks and Goten's-," Gohan continued.

And green skin . . .

"Piccolo's an alien," Videl said quietly.

Gohan stopped, for a second. Surely he hadn't heard that right "Um . . . excuse me?" he asked hoping that his Saiyan hearing had gotten it wrong.

"Piccolo's an alien, isn't he?" Videl repeated for the second time. There was no need for a question, Gohan's response had told her what she wanted to know. Videl Satan had put all the pieces of the puzzle together, and they fit with no empty spaces.

Or did they?

* * *

**A/N: **Wow, idk how long or short this story'll turn out to be . . . Lol, I'm just weird like that. Do people actually enjoy when a story that could easily be four chapters is stretched out into a 15 chapter epic? If you asked me, I'm not actually sure. I mean, if I like your writing style than sure, I'm cool with it, but if I'm reading the story for content, then maybe not. So yeah thanks for reading, please review. And this story was beta'd once again by the always awesome DawnFire101. Oh and for all you that think the ending's too predictable, well whatever, it'll move on to bigger and better things just you wait.


	5. Inner Workings of a Teenage Mind

**DISCLAIMER: **In honor of my returning to the writing world, I'm going to list all of the things I do own as opposed to the usual things that I don't own (like DBZ). So I own . . . um . . . my . . . Oh! I own all 42 DB Manga Volumes. Yay!

* * *

Alien Patrol Club

Gohan was brooding on a chair in the corner of his bedroom. He had made up some lame excuse to Videl to get out of that extremely awkward situation. He still wasn't exactly sure how to take Videl's newest revelation. One on hand, this seemingly ineffectual piece of information would take her one step closer to his not-so-well-kept secret. On the other, it _was_ kind of obvious that Piccolo was an alien. What else could he _be_?

Gohan sighed. Why did things have to be so confusing? Would withholding the truth from Videl be better off in the end, or would their friendship be ruined? He didn't want that. Of all the friendships he had made at Orange Star, Videl's was the most important to him. Was his secret worth all that strife? After all, she had taken the whole 'Great Saiyaman' and 'flying' thing in stride.

But then again, there was a small part inside of Gohan that enjoyed having a secret. Sure, Gohan had tons of secrets, much more than the average person, but Kami-knew how bad he was at keeping them. There was also the fact that Videl had very good detective skills, no doubt coming from her time with the police force. If Gohan could keep a secret from her, he must be doing something right! Or . . . wrong, depending how one looked at the situation.

"Oh well, better go find her," Gohan said, a hint of sadness in his voice. As much fun as being cooped up in his room was, he didn't really want to face the outside world, especially a certain Saiyan Prince, at the moment. However, the teen did get up from his seat and walk slowly up to the door.

His hand stopped an inch from the knob, as if the cool metal could burn his outstretched hand. Did he know what he was doing? Leaving the safe haven of his room could be a mistake. Gohan shook his head quickly and grasped the doorknob. '_Better go now, before I stay here for the rest of the night._' And with that last thought, Gohan left the confines of his room and closed the door behind him with a small _Click_.

"Videl!" Gohan called throughout the house. "Viddddeeellll . . ." Seeing as it was dark outside and after dinner, he doubted Videl had gone for a walk, which ruled out the possibility of her being outside.

He found his mother in the kitchen, still –er washing dishes. He never realized how much time his mom spent washing dishes until now. Hoping his mother wouldn't recruit him, he went up to her and asked, "Hey mom, have you seen Videl?"

"Yes, Gohan," Chi-Chi replied to her son. "She left a couple minutes ago, while you were locked in your room." Chi-Chi seemed slightly agitated about something, but Gohan did not want to stick around to find out what had put his mother in such a sour mood. It probably had to do with the fact that Videl leaving early might have put a dent in her 'get Gohan married off before he's out of highschool' plan. How he _hated _that plan . . .

Now that Gohan thought of it, there were a lot of things that were going just plain wrong in his life. Ever since he had started going to Orange Star High, everything had become extremely complicated. It was almost as if his life was some sort of running cosmic joke. '_This is what happens when you make lies a part of you,_' a voice that seemed oddly reminiscent to his mother's echoed in his mind.

Great, now he was going crazy.

'_Things could be worse_,' Gohan thought again, trying to cheer himself up. Videl didn't _know _he was an alien, at least not yet . . . But it really was only a matter of time until she came to that conclusion. They were still friends . . . right? Even with this secret. She didn't _hate_ him (but, boy, did she have a funny way of showing her . . . not hate).

As long as he was thinking of positive things, was it really so bad that Videl knew Piccolo was an alien? There were only so many theories that could explain his appearance. Besides alien, Piccolo could be a . . . green vampire, or . . . a terminally ill person, or a . . . um video game character called a Yoshi?

Gohan shook his head at that thought. Now he was getting ridiculous. Gohan looked at his watch, trying to find out whether it was too late to chase after her. Deciding it was, he resolved to go by the Satan household early the next morning.

What an _interesting _weekend this was turning out to be.

–

Videl's flight back to Satan City was an opportunity for her to contemplate the many questions in life. Why the sky was blue and who exactly _was_ Gohan Son? The sad story was that the latter stumped her more.

Gohan was an enigma of his own. Just when a person thought they knew him, he would completely change their opinion of him in an instant. It was extremely aggravating, and it didn't make any sense! And how could she willingly be a friend of someone who she _knew_ withheld the truth from her.

There was absolutely no doubt in Videl's mind that Gohan was hiding something. Even when they first met, he refused to be completely honest with her unless he had to. If he were any other person, she would hate them for it! But it _had_ to be the one guy she actually cared about who didn't want to be truthful with her. Life would definitely be easier if she had never met Gohan in the first place.

On the other hand, a part of her craved the excitement that only Gohan could bring. The adventures weren't so bad, were they? Her life was pretty plain, if you didn't count the whole crime-fighting thing. Besides, there were a lot of good things about Gohan, like his dorky personality and above average intelligence. Other than the whole secrets issue, the boy really didn't have a negative quality.

Videl paused in her thoughts to appreciate her surrounding. She looked up in just enough time to swerve out of the way of a long pole that stuck out of the ground and extended above her.

"Okay," she said angrily, "Who puts up a POLE in the middle of nowhere? Seriously!" Videl considered striking the oddity in an attempt to relieve some of her frustration and get rid of the thing in one go. It wasn't like it would be missed; it seemed more of an air traffic obstacle than landmark. She drew her hand back in preparation for a punch, but before she did something rash, she stopped; something about the pole seemed familiar.

After a couple minutes of thought, Videl realized where she had heard the story of a huge pole that extended to the heavens. Gohan had told her about Korin's tower, the home of the Senzu beans. Way above the tower was the Lookout, the home of Piccolo, Dende, and the slightly more elusive Mr. Popo.

Videl checked her watch quickly. It was getting pretty late, but seeing that she had traveled much farther from her home than she planned, (she was practically on the other side of the world) she decided to go visit the Lookout in order to obtain some answers.

As she ascended towards the heavens, Videl thought about the circumstances that surrounded her previous trip to the Lookout. Majin Buu was her first 'apocalyptic scenario,' but if she stayed friends with Gohan, there were guaranteed to be a lot more. Looking back, judging that just about everyone in the world died that day; she probably handled the situation pretty well. If her mettle was any lesser, she might have gone crazy.

Videl passed the top of Korin's tower and continued upward. She'd never been to the Lookout on her own, and she had heard from Gohan that Kami used to be very exclusive about the company he allowed on his Lookout. Dende seemed pretty mellow, but she still fostered the feeling that she wasn't _holy _enough to be there.

As the Lookout came into view, Videl took a deep breath, thinking about the job that had to be done. When she touched down on the tiles, she unconsciously used a hand to smooth her clothes and fix her hair. She looked around for any signs of others. It was pretty dark, so she couldn't see well, but she took a few steps forward nonetheless.

"What are you doing here?" Videl jumped and turned around at the sound of Piccolo's voice. She could barely make his large figure out, but his cape glowed in the twilight setting.

She cleared her throat and responded, "Um . . . actually, I wanted to talk to you, Piccolo. If that's alright." Videl was almost glad about the low visibility because Piccolo couldn't see her obvious nervousness, even if her voice wasn't the most confident.

Piccolo grunted in reply, making it clear that he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. He said to her, "I can't tell you everything you want to hear, for a large part of the truth isn't my story to tell. But I can tell you a story of my past."

Videl would have been lying if she told Piccolo she was not disappointed, but she nodded her head towards him. Feeling slightly inferior she said facing the ground, "How will I know if this story is true or not?"

Her response visibly annoyed Piccolo, who, bothered by the lack of eye contact, said angrily, "Look at me!" Videl jerked her gaze upward. "You don't have to listen to me, and you don't have to believe a word I say. We all have choices, but if you came here seeking _my _audience, the least you can do is look at me when I talk to you."

Videl replied putting her hands in the air in mock surrender, "I don't remember you being so uptight Piccolo . . . But that might just be because I've only talked to you like three times. Please share your story and I promise I won't be rude."

She looked at Piccolo with all the determination she could muster, and Piccolo, deeming she had passed the test, turned around. He said in a detached voice, "Well then, follow me." With his cape swishing in the low wind, he walked toward the main building of the Lookout. Videl followed him a couple steps behind, until he stopped in the entryway of the building. The lights of the room flickered on even though she hadn't seen a switch.

"To begin this story properly, I must remind you of an event that happened many years before you were born," Piccolo began. "Have you heard of the Great Demon King Piccolo?"

"Yeah, but . . ." Videl's eyes widened, "I knew it . . . I knew I had heard your name before!" she exclaimed. "The attacks on the tournament, from all those years ago, were those by you?"

Piccolo looked slightly annoyed and replied, "I'm the one telling you the story, instead of asking me questions, you'd be better off listening." Videl almost started complaining, because Piccolo _had _asked her the question, but she decided to close her mouth and frowned slightly, indicating she was done speaking. "Good, now as I was saying," Piccolo continued, "The original Demon King Piccolo was my sire. He was defeated several years ago by Gohan's father, Goku." Videl nodded, she had heard about the boy that had saved the world, it only made sense that he was related to Gohan.

"However," Piccolo went on, "Before he was killed, with his dying breath, he packed all of his remaining life force into an egg, bearing me. For you see, the original Demon King was not of this planet. He came from a planet far from Earth, called Namek, and had escaped in a spaceship from a cataclysm that had occurred on his home planet many years before. My sire had been one with Kami, the guardian before Dende, until he rid the evil from his soul in order to become the guardian of this world."

Videl was a little skeptical. Piccolo had no reason to lie to her, but . . . this tale seemed nothing more than just a story. "So you're saying that you, no- your sire, and Kami came here, to Earth, ages ago to escape some cataclysmic event on your home planet? Namek, you said? So that would make you a Namekian?" She asked looking at Piccolo hopefully.

This time, he decided to answer and said, "Yes. And the Piccolo that terrorized the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament was I. At first I harbored a high degree of hatred towards Goku Son-"

"And now?" Videl interrupted.

"It's become mild resentment," Piccolo replied without missing a beat. Videl did not say more, and the two sat in comfortable silence. Videl reviewed Piccolo's story again in her mind. She had no doubt there was more to it, but she figured she was lucky to get that much information out of the normally antisocial Namekian. So, she thanked him graciously for his help and skyrocketed back towards Satan City.

She had a feeling she would need some rest before she faced Gohan in the morning.

* * *

**A/N: **Hey! I'm back! Yeah don't ask about the whole time off, all you'll get is a rant from me about schoolwork and soccer and other random things. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, because I really worked hard on this one to make it as good as it could be (in exchange for the long wait). Please read and review! Thanks for all the reviews on the other chapters too! Oh, and I think this story is coming to an end in the next couple chapters; it's gonna' start to wind down . . .


	6. One Step Foward, Two More Back

**DISCLAIMER: **Has anyone ever told you how hard it is to think up original witty disclaimers? No? Yeah, I didn't think so. Hopefully this'll do: I don't own DBZ.

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Alien Patrol Club

"We need to talk!" Two voices, one from Gohan and the other Videl, spoken simultaneously, broke the silence of the early morning. And it was turning out to be such a nice morning too!

"Me first!" They both yelled in reply. Gohan looked as if he wanted to say more, but Videl stopped him by raising a hand. Gohan closed his mouth and acknowledged defeat. But the battle wasn't over yet.

"We're not going to get anywhere at this rate," she said, motioning to the inside of her home. "You can come in." Videl opened the door all the way and waited for Gohan to enter before shutting it.

Apparently the noise from the door alerted Mr. Satan, who called to Videl from a different part of the house asking, "Who was outside?" Since it was still pretty early, and her father had an aversion to mornings, he had probably not gotten up yet.

"Oh, no one, Dad." Videl replied glaring at her visitor with animosity. "It's just Gohan." She added, "the jerk." under her breath, but Gohan caught it.

Gohan looked at her with a startled face. Was she really that mad? In response to her offensive remark he said, "Videl, don't be like that-"

"A BOY!" Mr. Satan loudly interrupted. "In my house?" It was strange how the voice seemed so much louder than before. It was almost as if Hercule was much- Oh. "Do you think just because I allowed you to eat dinner with him means that he can come over here anytime he wishes?" Mr. Satan continued, "Well you are wrong! And you can just say good-bye to your little friend here."

"Dad!" Videl complained to her overbearing father, "I can handle this." She turned to Gohan, a frown evident on her face. "You heard my dad. Leave."

"Wait, what?" Two equally surprised voices said in reply. It wasn't very often when Videl agreed with her father on something, causing Hercule to be just as surprised as Gohan. '_Maybe I am getting good at this parenting thing,' _Hercule thought to himself with some pride.

Hercule beamed at his daughter and patted her shoulder, saying, "Sweet pea, you just keep up the good work, and remember boys are the root of all evil." With one last accusatory glance at Gohan, Hercule walked towards what Videl assumed was the kitchen.

"But I thought you wanted to talk?" Gohan asked, bewildered at Videl's total 180 in behavior.

Videl smirked at Gohan's discomfort, "I changed my mind. I'm allowed to do that, right?" Videl walked right back towards the front door, enjoying a personal victory at putting Gohan in his proper place: about two feet below her.

Gohan sulked but walked obediently with her, back towards the entryway. As he approached the door, something stirred within him and he said the one word that Videl wasn't accustomed to hearing. "No, Videl. I'm _not _leaving. We _need_ to talk." Videl chose to ignore his plea and simply walked around him, opening the door.

"We don't _need _to do anything today," Videl said while trying to push Gohan out of her home. Realizing she wasn't going to get anywhere anytime soon, because Gohan had rooted himself to the floor, she added, "Go on, leave. Don't you have _aliens _who you need to hang out with, anyway?"

Gohan looked at her as soon as she made her not-so-subtle statement. If she wanted his full attention, she had gotten it. "Is that what this is about?" he asked softly.

Videl, still exerting energy by trying to force Gohan out the door said in an annoyed tone, "If I say yes, will you _leave_?"

"No," he replied stubbornly.

Videl hands were shaking, she was so angry. "You are so . . ." she said gritting her teeth, "_frustrating_!" When Gohan didn't react to her declaration she continued, "Well, if you won't leave, _I_ will!" Videl walked past him, intentionally elbowing him in the gut, and took off full speed on her front steps. Gohan was left stunned in her doorway. The last thing she wanted was Gohan to follow her, but she knew he could easily overtake her if he wanted to.

Videl continued flying quickly, constantly looking over her shoulder for any movement. Maybe she should have learned that 'ki-sensing' trick from Gohan. It seemed like it could come in handy in situations like this. "Videl!" She heard someone say, and immediately halted her flight and turned around.

"Look, Gohan, I- " Videl said, before noticing no one was there. She looked around a couple times and concluded that the Son boy was not nearby.

"Videl!" The mystery person repeated. Now that she was paying attention, she realized that she recognized that voice. She looked down at her watch that she had remembered to grab before meeting Gohan in the morning. She was pretty surprised the Police Chief was trying to contact her, Saturday mornings were usually crime free. "There's been a hold-up at the bank on First Street. We have personnel here, but they have hostages. We need you to help and go on the inside."

"Alright, I'll be there in ten minutes," she told the Police Chief while turning back around. If her sense of direction wasn't completely off, she wasn't far from the conflict.

Not that she would ever tell anyone, but she was almost glad that the Satan City Police department was so hopeless, and that the city had one of the worst crime rates in the world. It gave her something to do . . . And releasing her frustration on others was better than just thinking about _him _all morning.

When Videl arrived at the scene, she noticed that the police had set up a boundary around the building to prevent a quick escape by the criminals. In all the chaos, it would have been difficult to find the police chief if he hadn't noticed her flying in. After the first couple times, the news she could fly had shocked the man, but he was a professional; he couldn't afford to be distracted from his job.

"Videl, Thank Kami that you are here!" the Police Chief said. "Now there's a back entrance you can go through, there are a couple criminals guarding it, but it's much less than the number that they have stationed at the front. We think the boss is keeping the hostages in one of the larger safes, but they could be easily located in one of the empty offices." Videl nodded in understanding.

She looked resolutely at the chief and said, "You can count on me. I'll go in, and after about twenty minutes send in some back-up if you don't hear back from me." She clasped her hands loosely and stretched her arms outwards in a lethal manner, showing her confidence. Videl crept around the building towards the back exit, ready for whatever criminal that came her way.

–

Glancing above the newspaper at her companion with mild contempt, Videl couldn't help but wonder how it had all gone so _wrong_?

She was running through the bank's halls and was surprised to have seen only one or two poorly trained thugs after searching for fifteen minutes. When the Chief told her there were a few guards, he wasn't kidding! Her time was running out, and she knew the same was probably true for the hostages.

Videl doubled her speed and strained her ears for any noise that was coming from the rooms that she passed. '_Who built this bank anyway?_' she thought to herself, '_It's like a freaking castle!_' As if to emphasize her thoughts, the next room she passed was appropriately named the throne room. Videl stopped in her tracks after reading the sign. What was _with _the First Street Bank anyway? Either someone had a big ego or . . . someone must've had a big ego.

There was something different about the so-called throne room, and Videl decided to check out what was going on inside. She grinned when she saw four or five people, gagged and tied, sitting on the floor of the room. She rushed in without a second thought, and was surprised to see looks of fear plastered on every single face when they saw her arrive. She started untying the closest person to the door, a young man with glasses who probably worked as a teller.

Before she could remove the man's gag completely, she heard slow, calculated clapping come from the swivel chair in the corner. The back was facing her preventing her from seeing the person's face.

"Videl Satan," the cold voice said, "we've been expecting you." The criminal boss snapped his fingers and armed men entered the room, barring the exit and surrounding the teen. By the time they stopped piling in, there were over thirty and they were all pointing their guns at her.

Videl, although surprised and slightly nervous, removed the man's gag, and stood up slowly, sudden movements would probably persuade the men to shoot, and that was the last thing she needed. It was especially true with the hostages in the room. She didn't allow her shock to show, and replied to the man, "I don't know who _you _are, but if you've heard of me, you should know what I'm capable of."

The faceless man laughed lightly at her statement. "Oh I don't doubt that you are capable of bringing all thirty of my men down one on one, or even together, in hand to hand combat. But it seems we've caught you off guard haven't we?" the criminal boss asked in a taunting and slightly childish voice. Videl felt like stuffing that man's mouth full of her fist.

"Well, that means you're doing better than the fifty or so criminals who have tried before you," Videl said bitterly. "But do you know where they all ended up regardless? Behind bars. So what are the chances you'll be next?" She replied in the same childish voice. She smirked cockily, and glanced towards the exits, but they were all blocked.

The criminal boss dropped the act and said harshly in reply, "Nonexistent, I think, looking at our positions." He turned the chair around and faced the girl. He was a man in his mid-thirties, with a mop of brown hair and a black cap on top. The man held two machine guns and rounds crossed over his chest and shoulders. He trained both on her and said, "I could kill you 100 times over right now if I wanted to."

Videl resorted to her always-faithful Plan B: to bluff the heck out of there. It hadn't failed her yet–she was still alive, wasn't she? "I wouldn't do that if I were you. I have back-up waiting outside, double the number of your men, and if they hear anything in here, they'll have you surrounded before you can all say 'handcuffs.'" She hoped her lie, rather, partial truth, was convincing. She really only needed to stall for a few minutes until her police support helped her out of the bind she was in.

As opposed to the response she thought she would receive, Videl heard the noise of a gunshot come from the man in the chair. As a reflex, she sidestepped the bullet, moving faster than she ever thought she could to complete her evasive manuever. It grazed her arm, but didn't cause much damage, and embedded itself in the wall. The criminal leader raised an eyebrow in surprise, she was fast, much faster than he had thought.

"I'm sorry, Videl," he said to her, "but any questions I had about letting you live were answered by that evasive maneuver. Boys, are you ready?" Several grunts were heard around the room in reply.

Videl looked around the room worriedly; was she actually thinking before that she _liked_ these lowlives? She tried to calm herself down and assess the situation: there were five hostages, thirty armed men, and a whole lot of bullets. How was she going to pull this off?

The leader walked toward Videl, tapped her chin, and whispered, "Better luck next time." He walked past her towards the door and opened it. Pausing in the doorway he said, "Kill her."

"Go to h-" she managed to say before stopping herself. Cussing out the boss probably wouldn't increase her chances of survival. He wouldn't hear her anyways; he had left the room to avoid the crossfire. At that moment, Videl heard the _click_ of several gun slides locking into place. These guys meant business!

As soon as she anticipated the shootout to begin, Videl grabbed the nearby hostage she had untied and dropped the both of them to the floor. It turned out that she was not a second too early, because bullets poured out of every corner of the room. However, her captors and would-be-executioners could only fire so many before the far wall was blasted apart.

Videl wasn't sure if she was more glad or angry to see Gohan arrive, fully decked out in his Saiyaman outfit. So, like usual, he ended up saving the day in the nerdiest way possible, managing to get even more on her nerves (if it were possible). He had done such a quick job that by the time Videl's back-up had arrived all they found was five shocked hostages, Saiyaman and Videl having a heated conversation, and thirty thugs unconscious on the floor. The leader was later apprehended and another crisis was averted because of the efforts of Satan City's most beloved heroes.

"This stuff is a load of-" Videl said angrily at the words of the article.

She wasn't able to complete her sentence because Gohan interrupted, "Whoa there, Videl! It's just an article . . ." Gohan removed the paper from her clenched hands and looked at the headlines which read '**Great Saiyaman and Videl Save the Day!**' After scanning it, he asked, "What's so wrong with it?"

"What's wrong with it, you ask?" Videl replied. "I'll tell you! The author got the story completely wrong! It insists that I was like some damsel in distress that needed saving!" Videl took back the article from Gohan, rolled it in her hand, and continued, "I don't need anyone saving me, least of all you."

Gohan scratched his head in confusion. "Well, if I remember correctly," he started, "I _did _save you yesterday, I don't remember what bank robbery you're talking abou- Ow!" Videl interrupted Gohan by reaching across the table and smacking him in the face with newspaper. "What was that for?" he asked rubbing his forehead.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Videl replied shrugging her shoulders. "It seems you've taken one too many hits to the head." Gohan chuckled.

"Can't disagree with that statement," Gohan said while peering at her eyes. "So, Videl," he said seriously. "Are we . . . are we okay? I mean, are you still mad at me?"

Videl abruptly turned her body, her back facing him. "Yes," she responded sharply, causing Gohan's face to fall. "But-" Hope reappeared in Gohan's expression. It would have been so easy to keep him in suspense, but Videl kindly decided to have mercy on him. "I'll get over it," she finished with a smile.

* * *

**A/N: **So yeah, you've probably figured out by now my bi-polarness when dealing with the length of this story. Truth is . . . I have plenty of ideas that I can incorporate, but I don't want to commit to a long fic, because I have plenty of ideas outside of this story that I really want to start. That's my spiel. Thanks for reviewing, and I got this chapter out much faster for all you faithfuls. And a shout out to my beta-reader/uplifter Son Goshen! Anyways, please review!


	7. A New Recruit

**DISCLAIMER: **In the spirit of finals being over: (True/False) I don't own DBZ. C'mon you've got a 50-50 chance!

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Alien Patrol Club

The Orange Star High auditorium lights went off, leaving the members of the Alien Patrol Club in mild suspense and total darkness. Sure they were nervous the first time this happened . . . but after about thirty more, the routine had become predictable and was gradually put out of practice. However, this meeting was going to be special, because there were rumors of a new recruit. The only reason the leader was being extra dramatic was probably to impress the new guy.

Suddenly, a spotlight arose on the front of the room and out stepped the leader of the club. "Great news, Alien Patrol, we have a new member joining us today!" he said. A couple scattered claps and eventual silence met his announcement. The leader looked around in disappointment, cleared his throat, and the lights flickered back on. "I _said_, we have a _new member_ joining us today."

The second time he was met with even less enthusiasm than before. Fortunately, that happened to be the same time that the Alien Patrol Club guest made their appearance. All the heads turned to the door as it was being opened.

As the figure stepped out into the light, one nerd stood up and yelled, "Oh my gosh! It's a girl!" It was as if he had never seen a member of the female species in his life. He wasn't the only surprised person in the room as most facial expressions mirrored his. The Alien Patrol Club was previously devoid of members of the female species, causing this to be a very momentous occasion.

"It's not a girl!" Another member yelled, standing up in fear, "It's _Videl_!" Several gasps were heard as the members of the club recognized their newest recruit. If they were worried about themselves (Videl was plain scary!), they were more worried about the poor soul who had made that comment.

Videl's initial smile faltered at the remark, but she forced it back on her face. Making a mental note of the nerd that had spoken and resolving to get Sharpener to assault him later, she took a seat near the back of the auditorium. She made sure it was a ways away from the closest nerd. Using her eyes to scan the room, she noticed that half the population was hiding from her in an effort to not incur her wrath, while the others were staring at her, probably having a perverted fantasy.

For the third time that day she reminded herself that this whole _thing _was necessary. She was doing it in the name of finding out Gohan's secrets! '_Even if_,' she thought while looking over her shoulder at a nerd who had vacated from his seat several chairs across from hers. '_It won't be fun . . ._' The nerd she noticed started walking towards her and plopped himself down in the seat next to hers.

Videl moved one seat over . . . So did he.

"So uh . . . Videl, right?" he said awkwardly. Videl found herself staring at the boy's braces whenever he opened his mouth. Could those things have more food stuck in them? "I was . . . um wondering . . . " he said leaning towards her, "if you would . . . you know, go out with me?"

Videl stood up abruptly, a hand raised in the air. "That's it. I'm out of here," she declared. Everyone stared, completely shocked at the turn of events. That would be the shortest membership ever! And that included the time when Sharpener had come thinking the meeting was for the Hair club!

"Wait, Videl!" Mark called from across the room. He rose and ran over toward her, grabbing her arm and leading her to the nearest door. "Please excuse us." He said to the rest of the room with a polite smile, before opening the door and pulling himself and Videl inside.

Unfortunately for Videl it was a small supply closet that was poorly lit. She voiced her anger by saying, "You have_ got _to be kidding me." Mark offered her a warm half-smile, but it wasn't well received.

Mark glanced around the room and upon realizing the implications replied, "Oh, I _won't_ try to seduce you if that's what you're thinking. You don't have to worry about that." Videl raised an eyebrow but he continued talking, "I'm going to be world famous for my work in the scientific field. I don't need a woman holding me back from my potential."

"I should deck you for that," Videl said with a smile. "But thanks . . ." Videl paused for a moment and sighed. "But even if you think that, it doesn't mean the others feel the same. I mean, you should have seen the creep who asked me out a minute ago."

Mark laughed. "Oh no, I saw. But that doesn't matter, what you saw seconds ago was the very worst of this club, and I promise we are a lot more than _that_. What really matters is your opinion. Videl, do you really _want _to be here?" he asked.

"Of course I don't _want _to be here," Videl answered rolling her eyes. "But I came didn't I? And I _need _to find out more about Gohan and this alien thing. If I can do both here, I guess it's worth a couple gross guys. Maybe." Videl crossed her arms over her chest and added, "But if someone else hits on me I won't make any promises about not beating the tar out of him."

"It's a start," Mark said, shrugging lightly. He backed out of the room and Videl reluctantly followed. They both re-entered the meeting and found their own seats, Videl in the back far away from anyone, and Mark in the very front row. Few people noticed, because the club was in the middle of a heated debate about what types of food aliens would eat. Videl followed it for a couple minutes, but quickly lost interest. Who _cared _whether an alien ate tapioca or not?

Glancing around the room quickly, Videl pulled out her cell phone and dialed Erasa's number, ducking down so no one would notice her. "Hey, Erasa," she whispered when she heard her friend pick up. "Do me a favor and meet me in the auditorium. It's . . . uh for . . . " Videl wracked her brain for a good lie. "Hair club?"

"Really, Videl? And you're coming too?" Erasa asked. "But I thought Hair club was only on Wednesdays . . . and why are you whispering?"

Videl smacked her face for being so stupid, and tried to make up something that could be somewhat plausible. She glanced around again, but the members of the club were still caught up in the argument. "Uh . . . it's a special meeting, for the 'Great Hair Contest' and uh . . . they wanted me to tell you that you were nominated as a candidate. And I'm whispering because it's a secret." Videl closed one eye and held her breath hoping Erasa wouldn't realize her story was obviously false.

"Yay! That's so great, Videl! Thanks for telling me," Erasa said enthusiastically to her friend, and Videl released the breath she was holding. "So, if you're there, does that mean I can bring Sharpener?"

"No!" Videl said a little too loudly, and a head turned in her direction. Since she had ducked down, the person looked around in confusion before getting back into the argument. "Don't tell Sharpener. He wasn't nominated. I don't want him to know."

Erasa nodded her head in agreement and replied, "Yeah, Sharpener sometimes gets too competitive with these kinds of things. I'll be there in a minute." Videl heard Erasa cancel the call and she put her phone away and sat up in her chair. There was only one other problem that could arise, but Videl was betting that it wouldn't be an issue. Besides, if Sharpener couldn't tell the two clubs apart, who was to say Erasa could? Things were looking better already.

Soon enough Erasa arrived in the doorway, and Videl signaled her friend with a wave. She tried to make it seem urgent, because she didn't really want the rest of the club to know there was another female in the room. After the welcoming she had received, she doubted the members could handle knowing they were in the same room as more than one girl.

"Sorry I took so long," Erasa whispered. She took a look around the room and asked, "So where is everybody?"

Videl stared at Erasa blankly. '_Darn her for being observant!_' she thought nervously. "This is . . . um everybody. Yeah, bad turnout," Videl said nodding her head. That shut Erasa up for the time being. They both turned to the front of the room, and Videl noticed they seemed to have moved on from their argument.

The club leader cleared his throat once to get everyone's attention, "So our next order of business is to talk about one of our member's exploits this weekend regarding our newest suspect, Gohan. We have Mark Ehr here to elaborate." He gestured to the seat almost directly in front of him where Mark was sitting.

"Gladly," Mark said while getting up. The club leader switched places with him as he grabbed the easel on the next seat over, and placed it in the very center. A black covering rested over it. "As you all know," Mark stated, looking in Videl's direction. "I visited the Son home this weekend as a part of my duty for this club." Mark removed the cover, and the first image was an aerial picture of Gohan's house.

"From the outside it looks quaint, a country home almost. However, it is located no less than 500 miles from this location." Mark flipped the page and another picture, this one of a map, was shown. Mark whipped out a pointer and drew an imaginary line between Satan City and Gohan's home. "This trip took almost four hours and that was in _my _copter." Several people gasped because only Capsule Corp. was known to have faster jet copters than Mark Ehr.

"So you see the issue," Mark continued. "We _all _know Gohan doesn't have a license and can't drive, because of the accident that occurred a month ago with that poor old lady, who is _still _in the hospital." A couple witnesses of the event cringed; it hadn't been pretty. "So now we, as detectives, are left with few options. Either Gohan possesses a teleportation device . . . or the boy has super speed. Both possible, but not very likely."

Mark paused and flipped the page on the easel to reveal a pictue of Gohan and Saiyaman. "Or . . . Gohan can fly, and that successfully links him with one of the city's heroes, the Great Saiyaman. Not only that, but it would put him down as only the second person on record who can fly, the first of whom is Videl." Most of the people in the audience turned around to look at her, and she sank into her seat, pulling Erasa with her. She had to admit, Mark's argument was pretty sound, no doubt put together with a lot of time and effort.

"Videl," Erasa whispered, "this isn't Hair club. It's that weirdo Alien Patrol Club, right?"

Videl waited until Mark continued before sitting up in her chair and answering. "Yeah, sorry about lying, but I really want to know more about this kind of thing, and it seemed like the only place I could go." Even though her apology was weak, Videl hoped her friend would forgive her.

Erasa shrugged saying, "It's okay. The fact that you think I could have been nominated means you think I have great hair!" She combed a hand through her hair to emphasize her point. "Oh and seeing that you are interested in this club means you want to find out more about Gohan! That is so cute!" Videl rolled her eyes at this statement; what her friend was referring to was so_ not _the case. "But, the only thing I'm confused about though is why couldn't I invite Sharpener?"

Videl answered, "Easy. Sharpener hates nerds, and nerds hate Sharpener. Now be quiet, Mark's talking." Videl and Erasa redirected their attention towards Mark.

" . . . So as we can see from Videl, who is _not _an alien, you don't have to be one to be able to fly. But since we know that flying isn't the most uncommon ability, being an alien may increase your ability to fly. Because of this information, I think, unlike the speaker last week who suggested we make Gohan our suspect, that even if we identify Gohan as Saiyaman, it does not mean he is an alien." A couple people started whispering after hearing this, but no one interrupted.

He continued, "My second point revolves around the group of friends that Gohan and the Son family has." Mark flipped the page again to reveal a picture of the dinner party. Underneath the large photos, smaller individual ones were posted with lines of information to go along with them.

Pointing to the first one, Mark said, "Bulma Briefs, owner of Capsule Corporations, and mother of Trunks Briefs. She is married to Vegeta Briefs who is lesser known but widely regarded as the most dangerous man on Earth." Mark went through describing every member sitting at the table except Gohan, but paused before reaching Piccolo.

"This man," he said pointing at Piccolo, "is obviously an alien. So obviously, in fact, that he must be dressed up as one in case of an alien invasion, hoping the invaders will pass over him as described in Vortex 4: Return of the Vortex. His ploy won't work, because everyone knows _real _aliens don't actually have green skin." Videl could have busted out laughing. To think Mark could spend hours on an argument of how random people were aliens, and when one stared him in the face, he couldn't see it. Maybe Mark was a little _too_ nerdy for his own good.

"Now, you may ask why I took the time to profile each table occupant. Since we can only speculate as to the relationship between the Briefs and Sons, we have to examine it from all angles."

Videl stopped to think after hearing Mark's statement. It had made her realize that _she_ didn't even know how Gohan knew the Briefs. It was a friendship for sure, but she'd always assumed it was because they all had the super strength thing going for them. Surely super strong people would have super strong friends . . . Come to think of it, if Gohan really was an alien, there was little doubt that title would also extend to Vegeta and Trunks.

It was strange. The meeting was the first place that Videl had started to think about the possibility of Gohan being an alien, and it didn't seem as crackpot-y as it had first seemed. Not that she would go all psycho like the rest of the club and confront Gohan with theories and other nonsense . . . But what she needed was some evidence. She sighed and turned her attention back to Mark.

" . . .There is a way to get irrefutable proof to know if Gohan really is an alien," Mark finished. Everyone who had zoned out, including Videl, suddenly became much more interested. "But it's going to require more research."

"Well you have far outdone yourself, Mark, and you aren't required to do it. We'll find someone else." the leader of the club replied while standing up from his seat. Turning to the rest of the club, he asked, "Any volunteers?"

Before the meeting had even started, Videl had promised herself that she wouldn't add any input and wouldn't sign up for _anything_. She had planned to just sit in her seat the whole time, absorbing all the information. However, when the opportunity was presented, she found herself standing up to volunteer. It was too late to back down so she said, "I'll uh . . . do it." The other members looked at each other.

"Hey wait!" one yelled. "She can't do it! It's against protocol! She's new and inexperienced and she'll jeopardize the mission for sure!" In response Videl sent the spokesperson a menacing glare. After the person backed down cowering in fear, she looked down at Erasa, who was playing with her phone, and then towards Mark for some help.

Mark was the one who came to her rescue. "Let's not dissuade our newest member from taking on an assignment. If it makes you feel better I'll promise to help her out." There was some grumbling in reply, but mostly mutters of approval.

"Great," the leader said. "Videl and Mark are teaming up for Phase Two of trailing the suspect. Since we have nothing else to discuss, this meeting is adjourned!" As soon as those words came out of his mouth, Videl intended to rush out of there with Erasa behind her. They had been lucky so far; Erasa hadn't been recognized during the whole meeting, but they didn't want to take any chances.

The two crouched low and crept along the walls, until Videl, who was in the lead, saw a pair of shoes directly in front of her. She stopped and looked up slowly and identified the person as the creeper who had asked her out earlier. Unfortunately, Erasa crashed into her back and knocked them both forward, revealing herself. "No way!" the nerd breathed. "There are t- . . . t- . . . two girls . . . " Apparently Videl was right, and the information proved to much for him causing his eyes to roll back in his head as he collapsed.

"Just leave him," Videl said as she walked over the body. Erasa followed in her footsteps as quietly as she could.

* * *

**A/N: **Well this was the fastest update in a long time. I actually wanted the chapter out earlier but I had a lot of trouble with the part right before the ending. GRRR. So hope you guys are enjoying life, and I wanna' thank you all for reviewing. Um...please review this one, 'cuz a lot of effort went into it. Oh by the way, I finally came up with a workable plot! Yay! And thank you Son Goshen for helping me out. :) I also edited Chapter 1. You don't have to read it (the writing still kinda' sux) but it's better for sure.


	8. Unselfish Motives

**DISCLAIMER: **As you can tell, Disclaimer-ish isn't my first language. Me no own DBZ. Lame joke? I know.

* * *

Alien Patrol Club

Videl sat in the school library afterschool with a book in her hands. She was trying to concentrate on the words while waiting for her new 'partner' to arrive. However, she was failing miserably and eventually abandoned the book for tapping her fingers impatiently against the table.

'_I should've made Erasa wait with me,_' she thought as she glanced around the bookshelves for what seemed like the 50th time. There was still no sign of Mark. Just as Videl had decided to leave and kick Mark's butt later, he entered the library nonchalantly, gliding into his seat. The boy smiled at Videl, only serving to anger her even more.

Mark's smile fell and he said, "Sorry I'm late, last minute preparation." He was about to shrug it off and say it was no big deal, but he remembered who he was working with. His relationship with Videl was confusing: it was almost like they were friends, but he was pretty sure once this business was over she'd still forget he was the kid from her math class. The popular kids _were _the most fickle.

"You've got some nerve, asking me to meet you here and being late," came Videl's terse reply. "So with this _extra _preparation you got, your plan to get 'irrefutable proof' better be good."

"Oh, the preparation wasn't for this, " Mark started, staring at the table, afraid to meet her eyes. "We have a killer test tomorrow, and my grade's been hovering in the-" He looked up and saw Videl's expression, abruptly ending his sentence. "I mean, the um . . . plan is good too." Mark swallowed slowly.

"So . . . " Videl said, looking expectantly at Mark. She left her sentence hanging, hoping Mark would interject, but when he didn't Videl continued, "The plan, Mark, the plan. What the heck is it?"

Mark was startled by the harsh tone in Videl's voice. He replied, "Oh the plan, yeah . . . Well, it goes like this. Come closer so you can hear," he gestured towards him with his hand, and Videl reluctantly complied. "It's rather simple, actually, and absolutely foolproof. All we have to do is . . ." Videl leaned in. "Ask him!"

Videl sat back into her chair, shock evident in her face. She looked at Mark, who looked as if his idea was the most brilliant one that had ever been come up with in the history of ideas. Her right eye twitched, and she said, "You're not serious." Mark nodded. "Oh Mark . . . That is the _stupidest _idea I have ever heard."

"You see, that's where you're wrong, Videl," Mark said. "This plan is _guaranteed_ to work. You know why? Because Gohan _can't _lie. It's against his programming or something. There's only two ways to answer the question, and we'll both know when he attempts to lie." Mark clasped his hands and rested them on the table. He rested one leg on the other and leaned back in his chair as if saying 'End of story.'

"Frankly, I don't care if the only words that come out of Gohan's mouth are 'Yes, I am an alien.' You can't get substantial evidence from a head-on approach like that. You're leaving too much up to chance by only relying on the person's word. You can try, but it _won't _work," Videl asserted. She copied Mark's pose and sat back while looking at the boy, challenging him to disagree.

Mark placed his palms on the table and stood up. As he walked out of the library he looked over his shoulder saying, "Well, I'm going to go catch an alien, and you are welcome to join." Videl sighed but got up while shaking her head, and followed him out the door.

The two walked through the almost empty hallways of Orange Star, looking for Gohan. Had Videl been thinking clearly, she would have recalled that Gohan almost always disappeared immediately afterschool, flying straight home. So the two spent twenty more minutes fruitlessly searching every corner of the school before realizing that maybe Gohan had left earlier.

Videl was in a sour mood and was fully ready to ditch Mark and head home when she saw a blur that looked suspiciously like Gohan rush past her, heading in the opposite direction. The resulting wind was enough to knock Mark over and mess up her hair.

"Ugh," Mark said, holding his head while trying to pull himself up. "Was that Gohan?" Videl nodded, turning around and going back towards the lockers. Mark looked up and yelled after her, "Videl . . . Wait!" He jumped up too quickly and his head throbbed painfully, forcing him to lean against the closest wall until the pain subsided. Videl kept going, completely disregarding Mark's words, if she had heard them.

Videl walked slyly toward Gohan's locker, hiding behind trashcans or ducking around corners whenever he looked up. As soon as she was close enough to him she raised her hand to tap his shoulder, hoping her stealth skills were good enough to somewhat surprise him.

"Hi, Videl," he said, without turning around, when her hand was a finger's breadth from his shoulder. Videl frowned and leaned back on her own locker, crossing her arms. She had forgotten about his ki sense. How did you surprise someone who was constantly on guard?

Videl shifted her position, moving away from the locker and asked, "So what are you up to, Gohan? You were running up a storm, seconds ago. _Literally._" She narrowed her eyes as she spoke.

Gohan laughed and placed a hand behind his head in a Son manner. He replied, "Oh, you . . . uh saw that? Well, I- actually, my mother told me to pick up some stuff while I was in the city, and she gave me some money. But, I left the money in my locker and didn't realize until I walked into the store. That's why I'm here. The reason I'm in a hurry is that my mother expected me home five minutes ago, and I still haven't bought her stuff."

Gohan closed the door to his locker and faced Videl. He seemed to be thinking about something, and eventually said, "Hey wait, Videl! Why don't you come over for dinner? Mom always seems to be easier on me whenever you're there, so she probably won't go as crazy if you're arou-"

"Gohan!" a person that was seemingly out of breath interrupted, startling them both. They both turned to face the newcomer and found out the voice had come from Mark. " And hi, Videl . . ." he continued, breathing hard, "You walk . . . really fast." Mark bent over and grabbed his head again.

"Oh . . . hi . . . um- ," Gohan started, not knowing the strange boy's name. Was he a friend of Videl's? He didn't really look like it; last time Gohan checked, Videl hated nerds. "Sorry," he said. "I don't really know your name, who are you?"

Mark sighed. He was used to being forgotten by popular people, but by a fellow nerd? It was almost too much to bear. "I'm Mark Ehr, in your math class? We're _all_ in the same math class." Gohan stared at him blankly. "Never mind that, it's not why I'm here." Mark put his arm around Gohan, but being much shorter, it pulled Gohan awkwardly down while Mark was on his toes. "So, Gohan, I have a serious question for you . . . Are you an alien?"

Gohan's reaction was immediate. A shadow of fear crossed his face, and he practically threw Mark's arm off of his shoulder. "What?" Gohan said, flustered. "You think . . . that I'm . . . that I could be . . . " He glanced at Videl worriedly and then looked over her shoulder, pointed and yelled, "Hey, an _alien!_" Both turned around, and realized they had been tricked when they saw the place Gohan had occupied was empty.

"Well that was a complete bust, " Videl said. "See ya' later, Mark. I'm taking off." Videl gave a half-hearted wave and walked towards the exit. She felt slightly bad that she'd left Mark inside without seeing if he was okay, but she got over it. As she flew home, she contemplated taking up Gohan's offer and having dinner with him. It would be another opportunity to gain information from him, and her father _was _out of town.

She changed direction, and headed out of the city towards the Son home.

–

As Gohan flew, he braced himself for the earful he would no doubt receive from his mother. Because of his quick escape from Mark and Videl, he no longer had any protection from his mother's wrath. That was why Gohan had decided not to speed home and to enjoy the flight from Satan City. Besides, if he was going to be late either way, why not savor the time before he got into trouble?

'_Right now's actually a good time to visit Piccolo,_' Gohan thought. He easily found his mentor's ki at the Lookout and doubled his speed, heading straight for it. '_Mom's gonna' kill me for being so late on a school day._' With his increased speed, he arrived at the Lookout in no time at all.

He stepped onto the Lookout and after saying hello to Dende and Mr. Popo he looked around for Piccolo. Sure enough, Piccolo sensed him and approached the teenager. Gohan greeted his mentor with a warm smile and said, "Just thought I'd come by and visit."

"Oh really, kid? I haven't seen your face around here much at all. Not since Majin Buu," Piccolo replied. "Actually I've had a different visitor up here recently." He wasn't really intending to guilt-trip the kid, but Piccolo couldn't keep the accusatory tone from seeping into his comments.

"You mean, Dad?" Gohan asked, oblivious to Piccolo's underlying message. "He was up here wasn't he, that day we had you over for dinner? I'm sorry I haven't visited before, but between schoolwork and having Dad back, it's been a crazy couple of weeks."

Piccolo replied in an annoyed voice, "I wasn't talking about your father. It was that Satan girl, the one whose sole desire is to find out all your secrets. She came here inquiring about my past, and I told her my story. It is beyond me why you must insist on hiding yours from her. She's obviously driven; there's no telling what lengths she will go to in order to find your secrets."

"Not you too," Gohan muttered, "I swear the whole world's against me . . . Piccolo, I really don't think I should have to explain this, especially to you. Can't you just respect my decision? I would prefer it if Videl, or anyone for that matter, didn't know about my Saiyan heritage. Those people out there . . . " Gohan waved a hand behind him pointing to the rest of the Earth. "They're not used to change . . . or people being different. I _need _to just fit in. I _need _to just be normal . . . " he added under his breath, "For them . . ."

But Piccolo caught it and said, "Keep telling yourself that, Gohan," He walking past Gohan towards the Lookout's edge. "And maybe you'll start to believe it too." With that statement, Piccolo jumped off, heading to who-knows-where. Gohan merely stood in place with a confused expression.

He stood on the Lookout for a while, much more conflicted than before. Surely Piccolo's words had absolutely no truth to them . . . right? But then, why were they bothering him so much? Regretting his visit, Gohan jumped off the Lookout and flew back to his home, too many things on his mind.

It was only when Gohan saw his house that he remembered how much trouble he was probably in. It almost made him want to turn around and spend the night with Piccolo, if he wasn't still mad . . . But if Gohan did, his mom would _actually _murder him. If he came home now, at the most he would be confined in his room for a year . . . or longer. You never knew when it came to Chi-Chi.

Gohan landed just beyond the doorstep. He walked up to the door, realizing that by now, turning back was futile. Someone likely had already told his mother that he was outside. Reaching out a hand, Gohan knocked once on the door. The person who opened it was the last one he would have thought, well not last (that would be that weird Mark kid or like . . . Sharpener), but pretty close. Just his luck . . .

"Hey, Gohan," Videl said cheerily. "What took you so long? We were all waiting for you to eat." Videl paused waiting for Gohan's reply, which didn't come. "Um . . . Earth to Gohan, are you there?" She waved a hand in front of his face. Giving up, she turned around and said, "Goten, can you get your brother? He seems to be frozen in place."

By that time Gohan had fallen out of his trance. "There's uh . . . no need, Goten," Gohan said. "I'm coming in." Gohan walked inside with his shoulders drooping, eyes trained on the ground. He looked up to see his mother in the kitchen and Goku and Goten sitting at the table watching the food with hungry eyes.

"Yay!" Goten exclaimed. "Gohan's here, now we can eat!" The boy picked up his chopsticks, one in each hand, and pounded rhythmically on the table. "Food . . . time! Food . . . time!" He said each time he hit the table. Goku eventually joined his son, but the game didn't last long before Chi-chi became annoyed, threatening them both with no dinner if they didn't stop.

Gohan smiled at his brother's and father's antics. However, the smile slid off his face as he said, "Sorry, but before we start I have to talk to Videl." Just as his father and Goten were about to protest, he added, "Alone." He looked around calmly, daring anyone to stop him. When no one did, he grabbed Videl's arm and marched them both to his room.

"Geez, Gohan," Videl said, ripping her arm from his. She sat on his bed, but regretted the decision when he stayed standing. "What's up with you?" she asked in a voice that hid her true concern.

Gohan took his bag off and threw it into the corner. "Don't 'Geez, Gohan' me," he replied coldly. "Why are you here?"

"Well," She said defensively. "I had _thought _you invited me, but now I'm starting to have second thoughts about coming." Videl's position on the bed forced her to look almost straight up at Gohan, but it became too tedious for her, and she stood up, frowning. She had hoped to get more information on Gohan, not be interrogated by him. Wasn't she doing him a _favor_? She didn't have to show up.

Gohan breathed deeply, trying to get a hold on his raging emotions. Sadly, it didn't really help . . . "Videl, I know you were working with that Mark kid . . . Do you have this _morbid _fascination in watching me suffer or something? You know I'm Saiyaman. You know I'm the gold fighter, and that I defeated Cell. Isn't that enough? Can't I just keep one thing to myself and maybe have some peace?"

"You know, Gohan," Videl said angrily. "I'm _helping _you, right now . . . You're not in trouble with your mom are you? Where the heck is this coming from? I can't be-LIEVE you! You can just keep your stupid secret! I don't care!" She stomped out of the room and slammed the door behind her loudly. Gohan sighed running his hand through his hair; if he were in a better mood, he would have laughed at the irony of it all. The night was turning out just like that disaster-of-a-dinner that took place Friday evening.

Except, when he exited his room moments later to join his family for dinner, Videl was sitting in the corner, a completely fake smile on her face. She ignored his entrance, however, which he was slightly thankful for. "You can start . . . , " Gohan said, sitting down. Goten immediately dug in, but Goku looked back and forth between the two teens that desperately tried to avoid eye contact.

"Are you guys fighting?" Goku asked. "Because I'm not sure I want to eat here with all the anger you're both radiating. You could cut the tension with a knife!"

Two voices simultaneously said in reply, "Just eat your food!"

* * *

**A/N: **Another day another chapter. I'm seriously rushing to get this one out, no one else has read it yet (other than me) so I hope it's good. I won't be on my computer for the next couple days so I'm glad I could write this one before I'm gone. So yeah! Thanks for the reviews (Over 50 now!) and please read and review this one!


	9. Finding Solace in Denial

**DISCLAIMER: **Eh Booboo! I, Yogi Bear, do not own DBZ!

* * *

Alien Patrol Club

"Erasa, I really don't want to talk about anything right now," Videl said quietly to her blond-haired friend during class. Erasa watched Videl stare blankly at the teacher, feigning attentiveness, and then glance toward the rows in front of her where Gohan was seated. His usual seat was next to Videl's, but since their _argument _he had moved closer to the front. Not that the two were _avoiding _each other (they still partnered up to fight crime, or rather Gohan still followed Videl) but they just tried to keep away from each other, and not make eye contact . . .

Okay, so they _were _avoiding each other, and the whole school knew it. They just didn't know why, and that was what Erasa was determined to find out. At least, she was determined to win the bet she had with Sharpener. He, in usual Sharpener-obnoxiousness, had said that Videl had finally woken up and seen what a nerd Gohan was. And she had vehemently disagreed, saying the two were _obviously_ just uncomfortable with feelings they had for each other.

And she knew one thing for sure: Videl and Gohan definitely liked one another. All that mattered was getting proof for Sharpener so he would pay and shut up. Erasa didn't consider herself much of a matchmaker, but if that was what the situation needed, so be it. She had the opportunity to unite what, in her mind would be, the cutest couple on Earth! She would be an Orange Star High School legend! She hummed to herself, forgetting where she was and excited at the possibilities.

Unfortunately for her, the very grouchy Videl heard her humming and voiced her disapproval, "Erasa, can you just be quiet for a minute?" Not allowing Videl's bad mood to get to her, Erasa stopped humming but kept the smile plastered on her face. She had big plans in store for those two . . .

_Very_ big plans.

—

Videl shivered as she felt the cold draft coming from the left side of the room. Did someone just turn up the air conditioning, or was she just getting a really bad feeling? Either way she didn't like it, and she hugged her shoulders wishing she had brought a jacket. Normally, Gohan would have offered her his jacket, and even though she would usually decline, she would definitely take up that offer now.

Actually, Videl would have appreciated it if Gohan had asked her anything, really. At least that would mean they were on speaking basis again, instead of the emotional rollercoaster the two had been on over the past week or so. Why couldn't he just come up to her and admit he was wrong? Was it _that _hard? Maybe she should try harder to be less intimidating and more approachable.

Videl looked over her shoulder where she thought was the source of the strange blast of cold air. She was surprised, to say the least, to find Erasa staring forward, hands clasped in front of her, a decidedly evil smirk on her face. Videl half-expected her friend to unleash a maniacal laugh. She turned away slowly, resisting the urge to bring her friend back into reality in an _unfriendly_ way. She'd have to worry about Erasa later; she had her own problems to work out.

Eventually the bell signaling the end of the day rang, tearing her from her thoughts. She gathered her things and left the room, trying to avoid both Erasa and Gohan on the way out. Fortunately, she succeeded and made it to her locker. She was almost in the clear when she felt a tap on her shoulder, and a male voice spoke her name. With battle-attuned reflexes, she grabbed the offender's wrist and pulled while turning around.

There was far less resistance than she expected (her guess was that it was Gohan) and the person's body came towards her. In a split-second decision, she let go of his arm and pivoted away from his path. There was nothing to stop his momentum as he crashed into the lockers. Videl winced at the sound of the collision, and felt bad enough to go over and help the boy up.

As she walked over she identified the boy as Mark. Knowing it was him caused her to feel a pang of regret. How much bodily harm was she going to put the guy through? Staring at him lying on the ground, he looked as if he had been knocked out. His hair stuck up in chaos, reminding her of Gohan, and his seldom worn glasses were falling off his face. She looked around once, noticing that few people, if any, had even paid attention to the nerd on the ground. Videl crouched down next to him and shook his shoulders.

A small grunt of pain was her reply as Mark opened his eyes slowly. "You know, most people would just say 'hi' back, not launch the other person into a wall," he said bitterly upon viewing Videl. Mark attempted to get up on his own, but ended up in the same position. Videl rolled her eyes and offered a hand. It took Mark a while to finally take it, but he did eventually. She helped him up and, once he was on his feet, Mark leaned on the lockers for support.

"Um . . . well . . . Sorry," she said quickly. "You're okay, right? 'Cause, I have to go." Videl almost turned around when she saw Mark raise a hand to stop her. He looked like he was in pain as he did it, and bent over at the waist clutching his shoulder.

"Wait, Videl," he said while wincing. "I . . . have something to talk to you about." Videl frowned. She knew what this conversation was going to be about. Ever since her . . . disagreement with Gohan, she hadn't gone back to the Alien Patrol Club meetings or talked to Mark. She hadn't even given him an explanation, so it made sense that he would want to discuss her abrupt change of heart.

Taking her silence as permission to continue speaking, he continued, "I haven't seen you around school." He looked down at the ground and straightened his glasses (most days he wore contacts) with his good arm. Videl was certainly not used to feeling bad about her decisions, but gazing at Mark allowed some of those feelings to surface. Maybe it wasn't so coincidental that she hadn't run into Mark before then. Maybe it had required more of a conscious effort on her part.

But that was then, and this was a new day to make amends. "Oh, uh . . . yeah. Sorry about that. I've been- It's been . . . hectic." Videl tried to look anywhere but at Mark as she replied to him.

"Well, that's understandable," Mark responded, the painful expression mostly gone from his face. He was itching to say more and couldn't stop the words from flying out of his mouth. "I mean, it must be a shock to find out your boyfriend's an alien." He closed his eyes tightlyand used his uninjured hand to shield one of his ears in anticipation of Videl's reaction.

"_WHAT!_" she shrieked. "_What _did you just say?" She grabbed the front of his shirt and held him at arm's distance. "Gohan is _not _my boyfriend! And I'm starting to get the feeling that you're kind of a psycho, Mark!" It wasn't fair to make Mark the focus of her aggression, but he _had _gotten her into this mess. "Maybe you should get your head out of the ridiculous fantasy you're always plugged into, and back in the _real world_!" Videl let him go, and he barely managed to stay on his feet.

Mark stayed silent after Videl's comments, and decided not to respond. Sure, they hurt, but no more than his shoulder, back, and left leg did at that moment. He had to keep his tongue in check, because he would only rile Videl up more. Imagine how angry she would be if he persisted! He'd fight his battle after receiving medical attention. So, Mark did the only reasonable thing he could: feign unconsciousness.

Videl had felt terrible as soon as the words came out of her mouth. "I'm sorry," she added. "That was . . . I don't- . . . I don't know what that was. I didn't mean it, Mark." This guilt thing was getting really annoying. Mark's only response was to slump forward and slide down the wall of lockers slowly. "Mark?" Videl said, bending down towards him. "Are you okay?" When she didn't get an answer, she smacked his face a couple times.

Reaching a verdict she thought, '_Alright, he's out or he's faking, but either way I'm really tempted to leave him._' She shook her head rapidly to get rid of those thoughts, and pulled his uninjured arm over her shoulder. She half-dragged him across the school, glad that most people had already gone home and wouldn't see her. After leaving him with the nurse, Videl prepared to leave the building and head home.

"Excuse me, Ms. Satan," the nurse, whose name she hadn't remembered, said as Videl was almost outside of the door. "The boy you dropped off, Mark, would like to talk to you." There was a slight edge to her voice, but Videl didn't pay much attention to it. Instead, she took a deep breath and turned around, vowing that if Mark hadn't been so injured (and it hadn't been her fault) that she would be a lot less kind to him for keeping her afterschool so late.

Videl strode into the nurse's office confidently, and asked in an annoyed voice, "What, Mark?"

Mark was lying face up on a padded bench looking at the ceiling, and didn't change his position when Videl walked in. "Oh, hi Videl. I didn't expect you to come back," he replied. As he talked, he kept his body completely still, probably to avoid further injury.

"Well, I'm here," she said while taking a seat and crossing her arms. "What do you want?"

"All I want to know is why you've disappeared off the planet, at least that's what it seems like to me," Mark answered. "And I want to know why, after making so much progress, you've turned your back on the club." He removed his gaze from the ceiling and tried his best to face her.

Videl sighed and said, "You should really stop moving, you know? You'll only make it worse."

"Thanks for your concern, but I'm fine," Mark said while trying to hide grimace of pain. "It . . . doesn't hurt . . . so ugh . . . bad."

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you," she replied shrugging. "And about your questions, I don't know. I just know that I'm not as . . . motivated to be a part of the club, I guess. This whole thing has practically ruined my friendship with Gohan, and that's something I really don't want to lose."

Mark looked thoughtful for a moment, and blew out a puff of air. "Well . . . fine. You don't have to be a part of the club, and we can just go back to the way things were. You can be Videl Satan, and I'll be the invisible Mark Ehr, if that's what you want . . ." Videl didn't have to be a rocket scientist or an alien expert to know that Mark was disappointed. But who wouldn't be?

Videl took a deep breath and knew she would end up regretting the next words that came out of her mouth. "Um . . . well, actually . . . I'm okay if . . . we continue our partnership. That wouldn't be so bad." She tried to offer a reassuring smile, but she ended up looking like she was in pain.

Mark suppressed a cheer, and tried to keep his face emotionless. "That . . . sounds good," he said sincerely. "Now, I'm in a lot of pain right now, and talking doesn't really help . . . So I'll uh . . . meet you tomorrow, in the library." He looked at her in hopes of a reply.

Videl nodded in agreement, saying "Um . . . sure. And if you're in a full body cast, you don't have to come." When he heard her response, Mark chuckled and laid his head back on the bench closing his eyes. Videl took that as her signal to leave, and walked back out the door.

The nurse was standing right outside, looking at Videl in a way that made her feel uncomfortable. It would make sense that Videl wasn't the nurse's favorite student. Out of all the people in school, she had probably sent the most injured teens (mostly perverted guys) to the nurse's office. Well, either her or Sharpener. Videl backed away slowly not wanting to expose her back until she was farther away.

Once she reached a corner where she could be out of the nurse's line of site, she turned around and rushed down it. It wasn't exactly the fastest way out of the building, but it would work. As soon as she was out of the door, she let loose a sigh of relief, and muttered, "I'm finally out of there." She checked her watch and flew home, not exactly looking forward to her dad interrogating her about her afterschool exploits.

—

To say his life had been boring since his falling out with Videl was an understatement. Life during the past couple days had plain sucked, because there was nothing to do . . . And his mother wasn't making it better by asking him _every_ . . . _single _. . . day whether the two had made up. Coming home had become one of Gohan's least favorite parts of the day.

"Mom, I told you, I haven't talked to Videl!" he said angrily one day, before his mother had even opened her mouth. "Please stop asking!" Gohan dropped his bag on the counter loudly to show his frustration.

Chi-chi stared at her son blankly, the question dying on her lips. "Well, I wasn't going to ask you about Videl. I _was _going to ask you what you wanted for dinner, but if you're going to have _that_ kind of attitude, maybe you should just skip it!" she threatened holding up a kitchen knife.

That reply shut Gohan up, well, that and the knife in her hand. "Sorry," he said, putting his hand behind his head. "I didn't exactly have the greatest day." Chi-chi put down her knife and walked to her son giving him a hug.

When she released him she said, "You and me both. Both your father and brother were busy breaking things all day. It's a miracle anything survived the two and their little 'demolition spree.' I shooed them out of the house, and it's likely they ended up at Capsule Corp and are doing who knows what."

"So, what were they doing that was so destructive?" Gohan asked, intrigued.

"They were playing an extremely dangerous version of tag . . . in the house." Gohan smiled, that sounded like something his dad and Goten would do. Chi-chi continued, "It's really nice to have your father's home, but sometimes I wish he would just grow up!"

"Yeah," Gohan said wistfully turning his eyes to the window. "It _is_ great that Dad's back . . ." He let his sentence hang while continuing it in his mind, '_Now, if only Videl and I made up. Then everything would be perfect_.' Gohan turned back to his mother to find she had picked up the knife again and was chopping meat into pieces. Picking up his bag, he left the kitchen and went to his own room.

He set his bag back down on the desk in the corner and flopped on his bed. He was just about to try to fall asleep when he felt his brother's ki signature directly under him. He called, "Alright, Goten. You can come out . . . I know you're there." The only response was some snickering coming from the corner of the room. "Trunks, you too . . ."

The two demi-saiyans grumbled under their breath, but came out of their hiding spots. "Hiya, Gohan!" Goten said cheerily. Trunks echoed his greeting.

"Goten, I thought you and dad went to Capsule Corp? And why were you hiding in my room?" Gohan asked.

"Well, we're back!" Goten replied. "And we brought Trunks over. Dad asked Mr. Vegeta to come, but he said he was busy training. And hiding in your room was Trunks' idea."

"We almost got you!" Trunks cut in. "You didn't know I was there too! You must've been distracted . . . What were you thinking about, your girlfriend Videl? Oooooh . . . " he teased.

Gohan made a face. "Come on, Trunks. Videl is _not _my girlfriend!" he said. Instead of listening to Gohan, Trunks started making kissing noises, which Goten joined him in.

"What's this about Videl being your girlfriend?" Goku said, poking his head through the door. "I thought you two were fighting? Did you make up already . . . you know, _that _way?" The way his father had said _that _made Gohan cover his eyes at the images that appeared in his head.

"You guys all need to leave the room," Gohan said, opening the door all the way and gesturing outside of it. Trunks and Goten, acting strangely obedient, walked with heads down into the hallway. Goku followed behind, but not before giving his son a thumbs up and pat on the back. "And Videl is _not _my girlfriend!" he yelled down the hallway.

The house was deathly silent for a moment, but the sound of a plate breaking in the kitchen was heard. "My baby has a _girlfriend_!" Gohan smacked his face, and decided he would be better off never yelling the word 'Videl' or 'girlfriend' in his house again.

* * *

**A/N:** Another brand spankin' new chapter! This one hasn't really been read over, so um . . . keep that in mind. July has been my get away from home month, so it's been hard to find time to write this. So yeah, anyways thanks for the reviews, and please R&R this one. One final question: There are 3 points of views I can write the next chapter in, and I was wondering if you guys have a preference. Writing about Erasa would further the romance, Videl would further the plot, and Gohan would be mostly just filler. So yeah, I appreciate your opinion.


	10. Life Goes On

**DISCLAIMER: **Here's a piece of random information to tell someone at a party: DBZLover4Ever does NOT own DBZ. Never has, never will.

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Alien Patrol Club

Normally, Orange Star High School was crowded, especially in the hallways where teenagers from every corner of the school rubbed elbows every second of the day. However, afterschool this was not the case and the normally congested hallways became pretty sparse. Even though the school was close to empty, one of the hallways was occupied by, arguably, the most well known student in the school, Videl Satan. She stood by a wall of lockers impatiently looking back and forth from her watch to the other side of the hallway.

Individuals passed her, but she paid them no attention. It was only until Gohan appeared that she acknowledged anybody around her.

"Oh . . . um, hi Videl," Gohan said, walking up her. He looked over her shoulder and asked, "Have you seen Erasa?"

Videl frowned and looked around. "I was going to ask you the same question. She told me to meet her by her locker to help her with some of her homework. But, knowing her, she's just late. What are you doing here, Gohan?"

"Weird," Gohan replied. "She told me the same thing. And you're sure she isn't here?" He leaned against the wall of lockers and took a deep breath. "Why would she tell us to meet her here if she wasn't going to show up?" He scratched the top of his head in confusion.

Videl rolled her eyes, and replied, "Are you kidding me, Gohan? You can't tell that this was a set-up?" Gohan's face twisted into a confused expression. Videl put a hand to her forehead. "She told us the same thing so that we'd come face to face and, in her twisted universe, end up in each others' arms right about now. Didn't you hear about her bet with Sharpener?"

"Um . . . no?" Gohan conceded. "But, come to think of it, those two have been acting pretty weird lately. But it's not that different from how they normally act, so I didn't really notice." Gohan paused. "Then again . . . Erasa did offer to make me a bunch of food if I asked you this really weird question. But it was really stupid and didn't make sense to me . . . "

Videl lifted one of her eyebrows in curiosity. "What question, Gohan?"

"Videl, do I really have to tell you?" Gohan said, putting his hands together and twiddling his thumbs. "I . . . I- it's not something . . . It'd just be so _weird_." He shifted his gaze towards Videl's feet and kept his head down.

If she wasn't in the middle of an argument with him she might not have kept provoking him when he seemed so vulnerable. (Who was she kidding, she probably still would have.) Videl leaned against the lockers beside Gohan and grabbed one of his hands.

She spoke to him softly. "Hey, Gohan, you can tell me. I just want to know what Erasa told you. I want to see if my guess was right." Gohan mumbled something quietly in response. "Sorry, Gohan, but you're going to have to speak a little louder."

Gohan gulped and said in a low voice, "Did it hurt?" He immediately faced the floor, face a little red from embarrassment.

"Did what hurt, Gohan? I thought you were going to tell me what Erasa said." Videl replied. Why was he suddenly changing the subject on her? Unless . . . unless this was really what Erasa had told him, and she was in the middle of . . .

"When you fell from heaven . . . "

. . . Some lame pick-up line.

–

_Slap!_

"No!" Erasa said loudly from her position crouching behind a trashcan in the corner of the hallway. She was in the perfect place to spy on Gohan and Videl who were on the opposite end of the hallway. After hitting the ground with her fist in frustration, she covered her forehead with a hand. "I _told _Gohan not to use that line unless they were somewhere romantic and alone. Not at school!"

Sharpener chuckled from behind her. "I guess Nerd boy can't pay attention to directions outside of class. Face it, Erasa, he and Videl will never end up together. And now, you've just made the truth more obvious to everyone." Sharpener glanced over at Gohan who was holding his cheek in a state of shock, and Videl who had stomped away from him and was heading their direction.

"Uh-oh," Erasa said, looking at the expression on Videl's face. "Scatter!" she whispered to Sharpener over her shoulder. Pausing, she waited for a response . . . that was never given. She turned around to find no one behind her, and decided to make her own getaway.

"Not so fast, Erasa!" Videl said grabbing her friend's wrist, practically giving the blonde a heart attack. Erasa turned around slowly, her worst fears confirmed in very inconveniently.

Erasa shifted her gaze to the ground, making sure to avoid eye contact with her visibly annoyed friend. "Oh . . . uh, hey Videl," she said uncomfortably. "Fine day we're having, isn't it?" Videl's expression and hold did not change so Erasa continued, "I . . . um, actually I have to . . . um -be somewhere right now, so uh . . . do you mind letting go of my wrist?"

"No," Videl replied evenly as she pulled Erasa over to the side of the hallway. "I just have one question for you, Erasa. What is WRONG with you!" she half-yelled. "I mean, it's one thing to completely lie to me about needing help on some homework for your imaginary class, but to have Gohan in on it! And to give him a lousy _pick-up line_ to use!" She let go of Erasa's arm and jabbed a finger accusingly at her friend.

"Whoa! Calm down, Videl," Erasa said, her arms in mock surrender. "You act as if I killed someone! In fact, I did you a favor! That line was pure gold! Any girl would have melted in his arms, but no, you had to go be stubborn and assault the poor guy!"

"That's the thing, Erasa!" Videl replied, raising her voice. "I don't want to be just 'any girl' with anyone, especially Gohan. Do you want to know the _real _reason I slapped him? Even though I may have been flattered, like you said, 'any guy' can go up to 'any girl' say the exact same thing. In fact it happens all the time!"

At that moment, a boy who had been watching the two argue walked over and opened his mouth to say something to Videl. However, before he could get a word out, she said, "Get lost." And the boy went running the opposite direction.

"Videl!" Erasa said. "Can't you see what you're doing?" She gestured to the retreating boy's back. "I can't believe it! Did your dad finally brainwash you?"

Videl crossed her arms in front of her and said, "What are you talking about?"

Erasa stared in disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me. Right now, you're acting as if every boy is innately evil." Erasa paused and sighed. "I guess you're right that Gohan can say that sort of thing to any girl, but you know what? He decided to say it to you! And you're lucky, because he is one of the only guys that you know means every single word he says!" her emotion reached a peak as she finished, practically shouting at her friend.

"You don't have to yell at me," Videl said turning around. "Besides, he told me, and you said it yourself . . . You told him to say that. Those weren't Gohan's words. They were forced on him."

"Videl, seriously. You know Gohan. Could anyone _force _him to do something he didn't want to do?" Erasa asked. Videl stayed silent, and after a pause Erasa continued, "You should really be having this conversation with him, not me. He's still over there, wondering what he did wrong." She gestured over her shoulder.

Videl seemed to consider Erasa's suggestion, looked at her watch, and replied, "If I talk to him will you stop setting us up?"

Erasa smiled evilly, "What do you think?" Videl groaned and turned around, heading back towards where Gohan still stood. '_I can't believe she actually listened to me,_' Erasa thought incredulously. She watched as Videl walked up to Gohan . . . and kept walking. Erasa stood dumbly before realizing what had happened and running after her.

"Videl! You're going the wrong way!" she yelled after her friend. Looking at Gohan, who was still frozen in place, she added, "Sorry, Gohan, I'll bring her right back here so you two can talk. Videl wait up!" Erasa rushed down the hallways and out the school building door. "Why does she have to be so darn fast!" Erasa muttered to herself before looking down the sidewalk and guessing a direction Videl could have gone.

–

Videl stood flat against the door Erasa had just come out of. She thought, "_It's not my speed that got me out of that situation._" Videl snuck back inside the school, but took a different path to avoid Gohan, who she guessed still hadn't moved from before. Stepping quietly she made her way to the school library and found Mark sitting down with two books on his side of the table.

He was wearing his glasses again and one of his arms was in a sling. It had been a couple days since his little 'accident,' but there were no hard feelings between the two. Having a sling made him look much more vulnerable than he already was, and every time she saw him, she felt a new twinge of guilt.

Mark looked up casually and smiled upon seeing Videl. He gestured to the seat next to him and opened one of the books he had found. "Hello, Videl," Mark said quietly. "You're late," he added pointing to a clock on the wall. "You're lucky my mother is always late when she picks me up or I would have been long gone." Videl resisted the urge to laugh, and passed it off as a cough.

"Sorry, Mark," She replied in her own quiet voice. "Gohan and Erasa held me up. It's a long story." Videl reviewed her conversation with Erasa in her head, disliking how much sense Erasa made, even the second time.

Mark paused in his book and looked at Videl. "Really? You were with Gohan for the first time in a while? Aren't you two . . . ?" he left his question open ended for Videl to finish.

Even though Videl didn't really want to explain, she found herself saying, "Yeah, well . . . our relationship is completely messed up right now, even more so after today. And I doubt it'll really be fixed, especially because I'm still in the alien business."

"Well, I'm glad for that!" Mark replied cheerily. "Seriously, I don't know what I would do if were weren't partners. I'd probably be working with some stranger that thinks aliens are huge green men with pointy ears. How ridiculous, right?" Videl laughed nervously while Mark laughed pretty loudly at his own joke. She never knew how to respond when Mark talked about information that she knew and he didn't.

"Hey, shouldn't you keep it down? I mean, we are in a library." Videl said after Mark stopped his obnoxious laughing.

Mark looked around, "Videl, there's no one really here for me to disturb, and besides the librarian _loves _me." He waved at the aged lady who stood behind the counter, and she glared back. "Well . . . uh, it's a love-hate relationship." Videl started laughing this time and Mark sulked. "Don't we have an agenda, Videl?" he said in an whiny voice.

"Mark, where'd your sense of fun go? Besides we had meetings all week. We know the plan and we know what we're doing. You were supposed to find out whether the Club is planning to do something to interfere."

"Well, it's pretty hard for them to interfere when they don't know what we're doing . . ." Mark said thoughtfully. "They're just planning to spy on him like normal until they find something out. You know, inside trashcans, in the air vents, the usual sort of thing." Mark closed his book and stood. "Let's go early, you're right there isn't much more to do for today."

Videl followed Mark's lead, and stood up. She said somewhat happily, "Well, at least I'll be home on time today. See ya, Mark!" She walked out of the library and decided to go back toward Erasa's locker. When she turned the corner, she saw Gohan still looking like a statue and Erasa struggling to force him to move. Besides the two, the hallway was completely cleared.

Videl took a deep breath and walked over to the two. When Erasa saw her she said crossly, "Videl, haven't you done enough today?"

Videl glared at Erasa before saying, "Well, someone needs to smack some sense into him and it doesn't look like it'll be you!" Erasa gave her friend a surprised look and backed off.

"Alright," she said. "I'm going to leave him in your hands, but he better not end up in a worse state than this!" Erasa shouldered her bag, turned around, and walked off, a barely concealed smile on her face. She knew _exactly_ what she was doing.

"Hey, Gohan . . ." Videl said after Erasa left. Gohan didn't respond, but the far-a-way look in his eyes seemed to disappear. "Well . . . I uh, just wanted you to know . . . that I'm . . . sorry . . . for slapping you." Videl added the last part in an almost inaudible voice. She looked at the ground to avoid looking at Gohan, and when she was met with silence she turned around, ready to go home.

"Wait, why are you sorry?" Gohan asked from behind her, startling her so much she turned back around.

Once she was positive Gohan was the one talking she replied, "You're okay!"

Gohan continued speaking, deciding to ignore Videl's exclamation. "Videl, I should be the one apologizing. I don't know what I was think-"

"Stop!" Videl interrupted angrily. "Just stop apologizing! It's not your fault! Nothing is _ever _your fault, Gohan! So stop thinking everything is! I'm the one who should be sorry and I am . . . I'm sorry for everything."

Gohan grabbed Videl's hand and replied, "Well, that's not exactly true. I mean, I really haven't been truthful to you, and I'm starting to think that choice was a pretty bad decision. And there's something that's been on my chest that I really need to tell you."

Videl's heart started beating faster, not only because of the close contact with Gohan, but she realized the enormity of the situation. Gohan was coming clean, he was going to tell her his secret instead of her having to beat it out of him. She looked around quickly and remembered that they were still in the middle of the school hallway. "Uh . . . Gohan," she said nervously. "This probably isn't the best place-"

"Videl," Gohan interrupted, causing her to pause mid-sentence and look up at him. "I'm an alien. Well, really . . . half anyways."

As soon as he made his declaration, Videl heard a muffled yell from across the hall. Remembering what Mark had said about the Alien Patrol Club, Videl pulled her arm out of Gohan's and took off running in the direction that she had found Erasa. She skidded around the corner and saw a collapsed, empty trashcan and looked up to see the school's exit door close.

'_Well, great job Videl . . .' _she thought sarcastically. '_First you run away from the guy of your dreams when he tells you he's an alien, and now you've lost the nerd that knows Gohan's an alien._' Videl walked toward the trashcan to see if she could find any clues. Inside the actual trashcan, she found a wallet, which she picked up and looked inside. On the I.D., she instantly recognized the boy's face, but the name was what really made her jaw drop.

Videl whipped out her phone and dialed Mark's number. When he picked up, Videl didn't give him time to say anything, before she spoke. "I know we agreed to go home early, but we need to talk. My house, twenty minutes and you better not be late."

* * *

**A/N: **Hello all! Tis' the tenth chapter of this fic. I really like how this one turned out, and although the 'big reveal' was almost pulled out of nowhere, there's still more to come. I've been pretty busy, so no promises about the next chapter date. Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing, glad that people are enjoying this story and please and review this chapter.


	11. Solo Attempt

**DISCLAIMER: **Um, if you weren't sure, I suppose repetition could help. I don't own DBZ.

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Alien Patrol Club

The door to the Satan home closed with an audible slam, and Videl stomped into her house with footsteps noticeably louder than usual. She sat down in the first chair she saw and tapped her foot loudly on the floor. After a couple minutes of sitting, she got up and decided pacing would be more effective.

She'd been told before that patience wasn't her strong suit. And the idiot who'd said that got a face full of her fist. Apparently, accepting criticism wasn't something she was good at either. She'd have to work on that.

As she paced back and forth, Videl had the nagging feeling that she was being watched. It was a strange notion because her father was never home when she finished school, and the people that worked in the house knew to stay away from her when she was in a bad mood. '_And I _am _in a bad mood,_' she thought decisively. '_Or at least in an I'm-gonna'-get-to-the-bottom-of-this sort of mood._'

Lost in her thoughts, Videl walked right into a chair that was conveniently placed in her path. The chair tumbled to the floor with a loud crash, and Videl clenched her fists tightly, half in pain (What was that chair made of?) and half in annoyance. Hearing a childish laugh coming from behind her, Videl stopped.

Wondering how a little kid snuck into her house and what it was going to take to get the kid out, she jumped around intending to take the breaker-and-enterer by surprise. Upon turning around, however, she became the surprised one, as she discovered the intruder was none other than Majin Buu with the dog, Bee, in his hands.

"Buu! What are you doing here? I thought you were staying at the lookout until we make the wish!" She tried not to sound too hostile, but it was pretty unnerving being in the same room with her previous murderer. Even if this was a different incarnate.

Majin Buu answered cheerily, "Buu lonely. Mr. Satan say Buu can stay here until wish made. Buu brought Bee!" Buu held his arms out while Bee wagged his tail in delight. He showed him to Videl and placed Bee on the floor.

"That's nice," Videl said, feigning a smile. On the inside she was having a heart attack. "But I'm going to have a visitor in a couple minutes and you can't—" Videl's lecture was interrupted by a knock on the door. '#%$! _Not good! I can't let Mark in here with Buu unless I want cause another huge crisis!_' Videl wracked her brain for a way to get Buu out of sight, and after a little bit of quick thinking she came up with the perfect plan.

"Oh, uh . . . Buu, I just remembered that my dad _did_ tell me you were coming. And he said he bought you some candy as a welcoming gift." Buu's mouth started watering as soon as he heard the word candy. Seeing his reaction, she cringed on the inside; she knew firsthand exactly how much Buu liked candy. "It's um . . . downstairs in the basement," Videl continued. "I would help you find it, but I'm a little busy. I'll join you when I'm done."

Buu picked up Bee again, and said, "It's okay! Bee help Buu find candy." He looked around and pointed to the hallway that was directly across from the door. "This way, right?" Videl nodded and shooed the djinn away. When she was sure the duo was gone, she took a deep breath and opened the door. She found Mark standing on the doorstep, wearing a slightly impatient look. He was still wearing his glasses, which put her off.

"Well, I came here thinking you had something urgent to discuss, but apparently that isn't true seeing that I was waiting at your doorstep for a considerable amount of time," Mark said in a bitter tone, and walked in without waiting for a reply. Videl chose not to comment on the rude edge in her guest's voice and closed the door behind him.

Once Mark was inside and they were seated facing one another, Videl replied, "I'm sorry about making you wait. My dad was here, and he hates when I have boys over. So, I needed to give him something else to occupy him." She didn't really _want _to lie and bring up her father, but this excuse was the best thing that came to mind.

Mark's eyes opened wide. "Mr. Satan was here?" he said incredulously. Videl put a hand over her face, and at the same time, Mark seemed to come out of his stupor. "Focus, Mark, focus," the nerd said to himself. He shook his head a few times, pushed his glasses higher on his nose, and said, "Okay, I'm back. Now what was it that was so important that I be here?"

Videl removed the hand from her face, surprised that Mark stopped himself from turning into one of her father's obnoxious fans, and replied, "A _lot_ has happened since I last saw you. And actually I found something pretty interesting when I was leaving the school." Videl got up and grabbed the wallet from her bag and handed it to Mark. "I recognized the face well enough, but it occurred to me I'd never heard his name before."

As soon as he saw the wallet, Mark thought he recognized it. He opened it, and the face of the Alien Patrol Club leader looked back at him. Underneath the picture of him was the name "LEE D. EHR" in black, block letters.

"Why didn't you tell me that the president of Alien Patrol Club was your _brother_?" Videl asked.

Mark frowned and replied, "Please don't call him president. There never was a formal election, and Lee declared himself the leader. There _is _a difference." Videl wasn't impressed and looked at Mark, irritation clearly etched in her face.

Gulping loudly, Mark continued, "Oh, um . . . your question! Yes, well, Lee, he isn't my brother. We may be related very distantly but the last name 'Ehr' is actually pretty common."

"Okay, well that makes more sense," Videl said. She paused for a second while thinking how she was going to explain the situation of how she actually got the wallet to Mark. She wanted to keep Gohan out of the conversation for as long as possible. "But I still have a bigger problem. Um . . . let's say that Lee, hypothetically of course, found out that there was an alien that may go to our school. What might he do with this information, hypothetically speaking?"

Mark replied, "Well, I can't speak for Lee. But, if_ I _found out something like that, I would probably call an emergency meeting of the club and then, plan to expose the alien in front of the whole student body." As soon as he finished speaking, Mark felt a vibration in his pocket and checked his phone. "Hey, look, Videl! A message from Lee about an emergency meeting for Alien Patrol! Weird, huh?"

Videl laughed awkwardly, thankful for Mark's obliviousness, and said, "Yeah, weird . . . Mark, you're not going to that meeting, are you?"

She wasn't quite sure how she wanted Mark to answer. On one hand, if he said yes she could tag along and attempt to sabotage the meeting. On the other, if he said no Mark probably wouldn't find out about Gohan, and she could start to form a plan as to how she was going to fix everything. It would be a pretty ambitious endeavor to try to fix the whole situation, but she did feel as if a portion of the problem (okay, maybe _most _of the problem) was her fault.

"Well," Mark said clasping his hands together, "it is my obligation to go to all of the meetings. And, seeing as we've never had one before, an emergency meeting must be pretty important. And I can give Lee's wallet back. So, I guess, as soon as we're done here I'll head over."

Thinking quickly, Videl made up her mind. "Do you mind if I accompany you?" she asked uneasily. "If this emergency meeting is so special, I'd like to know what it's about."

Mark looked at her with newfound appreciation and responded excitedly, "Really, Videl? The guys from the club, they said that they didn't think you'd ever come back. But I told them you would. And- you won't regret this!" He grabbed one of her hands and steered her towards the door.

As she went along with Mark, she couldn't help but remember that she had left Majin Buu alone in her house which probably wasn't the greatest idea. Her dad would have a pretty big surprise waiting for him when he came home. However, she couldn't worry about that, because she had her own problems to solve. The first and biggest problem was how to effectively sabotage the meeting and, if possible, get Lee in a one-on-one situation where she would be able to engage in some _persuasive _speaking.

Once she was outside of her house, Videl noticed there was no vehicle outside. She looked at Mark curiously and asked, "Mark, did you _walk _here?"

Mark nodded and replied, "Yes, unfortunately, my parents confiscated my jet after I returned home after midnight from Gohan's house. And since I don't own a car, if I want to go somewhere my feet are my best mode of transportation. It's actually not so bad after a while. I'm used to it. Besides, we're just going back to school for the meeting; they always forget to lock the doors. And the best part is afterschool they don't care if we use the stage in the auditorium." Videl thought of a remark about walking being a major inconvenience, and not something she wanted to do at that moment, but held back. The time the two spent walking could be used for planning.

Videl started to wonder how she was going to pull anything off once she arrived, and the best idea she could think of involved ditching Mark and pulling the fire alarm or turning off the school's power system. Either that or taking out Lee as soon as possible. The second option seemed more favorable, especially since she knew Lee (and most of the male population of Orange Star) was already afraid of her. Although, she had a feeling that, at the rate they were going, the meeting would already have started and it would be too late for any intervention. Unless . . .

"Hey," she said to Mark who was a step or two ahead of her, "do you think you could tell Lee not to start the meeting until after we get there? I mean, he should only have to explain why he scheduled the emergency meeting once, right?"

"Already done," Mark declared. "You don't have to worry, anyways. Lee hates repeating himself for anyone. But we're going to need to pick the pace up, because I don't want to keep them waiting. Last time I did that they started without me, and when I did arrive they didn't fill me in. It was terrible." As Mark sped up to the brink of jogging, Videl rolled her eyes thinking about how _traumatized_ Mark must have been.

The two teenagers settled back into silence, each consumed with their own thoughts. Eventually the familiar silhouette of their high school came into view and they went inside. Even though Mark had mentioned that the doors were usually left unlocked, it still shocked Videl that anyone could be so negligent when it came to school safety. And these people were getting paid to maintain the school!

"Mark," Videl said quietly, "You should go ahead. I -uh . . . have to go to the -um bathroom." She gestured towards the opposite side of the school and didn't wait for an answer before zipping away. She wove through a couple hallways and spotted the trashcan that was knocked over earlier by Lee's quick escape. Her face twisting into a frown, she picked up the fallen trashcan and set it back down properly. She fought the urge to kick it over, and backed away from the hallway before she caused any additional damage.

Sensing something that suspiciously felt like tears forming in her eyes, she shook her head and tried to focus. In the end, her efforts proved futile, and her thoughts kept straying to the spiky-haired alien who she had left hanging only a few hours before. '_And the worst part is,' _she thought, '_He'd finally decided that he could trust me, and I blew it_. _And in the worst way possible too._' This time a solitary tear did fall from one of her eyes, and she wiped both of them with her sleeve as she hurried along.

Once she reached the correct doorway, Videl took a deep, but shaky breath. She put a hand on the back door and whispered, "I don't know if I can do this." How easy would it have been to just turn around and let the problem sort itself out? But she couldn't do that. Not to Gohan. He didn't deserve that. In fact, he didn't deserve any of the stuff she'd put him through in the past weeks.

Steeling her resolve, she opened the door just wide enough for her to sneak in, hoping the club members would be too distracted to notice. She entered the auditorium without any mishaps and made her way slowly towards the front. Videl was pleased to find that the meeting hadn't started yet, keeping an ambush on Lee a realistic possibility.

When she was halfway up the stairs to the stage, the lights turned off abruptly and Videl froze. When a lone figure emerged from the curtains she ran up the last few steps and dove behind the curtains, listening to the person (who she assumed was Lee) speak.

"Welcome, Alien Patrol. Today I have momentous news!" Videl felt that the excited edge in his voice that made him seem slightly more crazy than usual. "For the first time this club has identified an actual alien!" Whispers started up after this announcement, several of them skeptical. Lee continued, "Don't believe me do you? Well, in this hand, I hold audio proof of an actual confession made by said alien. Listen members, if you dare."

Videl's breath caught in her throat. She didn't know Lee had recorded her entire conversation with Gohan. If he played that in front of the club . . . She didn't even want to think of the consequences. The next thing she heard was Gohan's voice on the auditorium speakers saying, "Videl, I should be the one apologizing. I don't know what I was think-"

'_Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!_' Videl thought as she scrambled to her feet. While she was moving she heard herself say, "Just stop apologizing! It's not your fault! Nothing is _ever _your fault, Gohan! So stop thinking everything is! I'm the one who should be sorry and I am . . . I'm sorry for everything." She looked around frantically for something, anything that could help her out.

Just as her eyes settled on the answer to her prayers she heard Gohan's reply, "Well, that's not exactly true. I mean, I really haven't been truthful to you, and I'm starting to think that choice was a pretty bad decision. And there's something that's been on my chest that I really need to tell you." Wasting no time, Videl ran towards the switch and read the writing.

EMERGENCY POWER OFF SWITCH. AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.

Figuring now was as good an emergency as ever, Videl grabbed the switch and pulled it down with all of her strength, nearly ripping the lever off the wall. She sighed as her voice died on the speakers, and she sank to the floor. The only person that seemed to react immediately was Lee, while the rest of the club stayed relatively silent.

"What's wrong?" She heard Lee yell.

"We don't know!" someone in the audience replied.

Lee muttered something and tapped his fingers on the podium a couple times, while he thought. He eventually said, "Okay, fine. Everyone, due to the loss of power this meeting is dismissed. You may all go. But, Mark, you stay." A few grumbles, but mostly soft cheers followed the mini crowd of nerds out the auditorium doors.

Videl heard footsteps walk up the stairs and she guessed the person was Mark. Lee spoke something in a voice slightly louder than a whisper, but Videl couldn't hear what he said. She decided to move as close as she could while staying behind the curtains and out of sight to find out what Lee's next plan was.

"Mark," Lee said, still in hushed tones, "you have served this club extremely well in the past. And now I'm going to reward you for your service by allowing you to be the first person to hear this tape. "

Mark seemed a little skeptical when he paused before asking, "The ending isn't one of those weird mind control things, is it?" Lee replied with a low chuckle. "Okay," Mark continued, "ominously not answering my question. You're not really making me feel any better about this."

"Mark," Lee said somberly, "just be quiet and listen." The two became silent, and Videl heard the click that signaled someone pressed the recorder's 'Play' button. She knew she'd have to blow her cover in order to interrupt the two boys and keep Gohan's identity a secret; she just needed the right timing. Videl strained her ears to hear what the tape was saying.

"Um . . . Gohan," she heard herself say. Videl's heartbeat quickened as she realized the tape was a lot further along than she'd previously thought. The tape continued with her voice saying, "This probably isn't the best place—"

Just before the point where Gohan made his confession, Videl burst out of the curtains practically yelling, "Wow! I finally found you guys! I got lost after the power went out and somehow I ended up behind the stage!" The two nerds jumped so violently after her entrance, she thought one of them might have fainted. However, she continued talking after a brief pause. "Hey, what are you two up to? Why are you being so secretive?"

Even in the low lighting due to the absence of power, Videl saw that, when he had recovered from the initial shock, Lee's hand had gone straight to the tape recorder sitting on the podium between the two boys. Her eyes narrowed for a second and she asked, "What do you have there, _Lee_?" She looked right into the leader of Alien Patrol Club's eyes, and they quickly avoided hers.

"Nothing," he replied quietly. Suddenly starting to cough, he raised a hand to his face and used the other hand to move the tape recorder into his pocket. Videl didn't miss his shrewd move, but chose not to comment on the tape again.

Mark, noticing the obvious tension, said, "Oh . . . hey, Videl. Lee was just playing something for me. It's strange, because I feel like I might have heard y—"

Lee's eyes went wide as he blurted out, "You can't divulge these kinds of secrets to a- a- non-member like _her_!" Videl wasn't sure if she should take the last comment as an insult or not, but Lee seemed as if what Mark was going to say was the biggest crime against humanity since Majin Buu destroyed Earth.

"What are you talking about? Videl is a member!" Mark defended. "She came here with me to the meeting! She was genuinely interested in what was going on! Right, Videl?" Mark looked towards her, and Videl looked straight to the ground, feeling guilty for misleading Mark.

Fortunately, she was saved from having to reply by Lee who cut in saying, "Oh please, she hasn't come to a single meeting in _weeks _and only came to this one to sabotage it! Who do you think killed the power? Besides, if you still think she's a member after all _that,_ then she definitely lost her membership the moment she learned of an alien and didn't bother telling any of us!"

"_What_!" Videl yelled, completely stunned by the turn this conversation was taking. "Lee, I swear, if you tell him, or anyone for that matter, I will personally make sure your every waking moment is a _living hell_. That _is_ a promise."

Lee's determined facial expression faltered, but he kept talking. "Fine," he said, "If you don't want me to tell him, you tell him! Tell him that your boyfriend is an actual—"

"Shut up!" Videl cried. She turned to Mark who was standing with a blank expression on his face. "Mark, don't listen to him. He has no idea what he's—"

"An alien, Mark," Lee interrupted in a calm voice. "Gohan's an alien. And all this time, he's been lying to everyone, even Videl." Lee paused, and Videl swallowed uncomfortably. "Until today, anyway, when I happened to be at the right place and right time to get this." Lee slowly pulled out the tape recorder from his pocket and pressed play.

Videl just stood and watched as Mark and Lee listened to the rest of the tape, an inner battle raging within her. A part of her felt like punching Lee in the face. Hard. Another part of her was reminded that Gohan _had _lied to her all this time, and deserved this. Still another part was depressed because she had failed Gohan, and surely now he was going to hate her. She didn't know why that possibility scared her so much, but all she knew was that it did.

Maybe that was what prompted her next action as she performed a leg sweep on an unsuspecting Lee. Before Mark could react, she grabbed the tape recorder from the podium and ran off the stage through the auditorium as fast as her legs could carry her. As she opened the door, she looked back over her shoulder and saw Mark help Lee up. In that brief moment, Mark turned and gave her the most disappointed look she felt she'd ever received from another person.

Once she was outside the school building, she threw the stolen tape recorder with the tape inside against the cement and jumped on it a couple times for good measure. Only mildly satisfied, she discarded the pieces and decided to take a long flight before going home. Dende knows she needed it.

* * *

**A/N: **Here it is, a sort of extra long chapter for your enjoyment. I'm really sorry about the wait (insert lame excuse here). I hope you are enjoying the story. Thanks for all your reviews, and please read and review this one. Hopefully the next chapter comes out a lot faster. I'm pretty sure it will.


	12. Someone Like You

**DISCLAIMER: **Hello, -uh you! Just in case you forgot: I am not the owner of Dragon Ball Z . . . (now Dragon Ball, that's another story)

* * *

Alien Patrol Club

The only thing that made Videl aware of the time was the slowly setting sun on her left. A few more minutes and it would completely disappear from her sight. She sighed and figured it was probably time for her to head home. '_Now just where in the world am I?_' She thought as she stopped her in mid-air.

"Let's see, " she said out loud. "The sun sets in the . . . West, and if it's on my left, then I must have been going . . . North all this time. No wonder it got a little colder. I better land, though, just to make sure." She descended slowly, a she sped towards lights that signaled a city.

As she got closer to the cluster of lights, she noticed how run-down it was. She landed on the outskirts of the city and walked towards the buildings, curiosity spurring her on. A crooked sign that needed paint read, "Welcome to Gingertown" in fading letters. She recognized the name as the first city that Cell destroyed in the early stages of his rise to power.

She recalled that Gingertown was unique because, after everyone mysteriously came back to life (which she now knew was because of the dragon balls) when the Cell games were over, there was a mass exodus and the inhabitants left in staggering numbers. The people probably desired to rid themselves of anything reminiscent of their experience with Cell. The once thriving town had become a home to very few, and the rumored headquarters of criminal empires.

Videl was surprised her memory served her so well. Maybe she _was_ learning something in history class.

Sooner than she expected, Videl ended up in the center of the city. A lone skyscraper stood in front of her while a few other reasonably sized buildings were on the other side of the sidewalk. A couple of poorly-lit stores were a few blocks down, and she could count the number of cars she saw on the road on one hand.

There were also a couple people on the street, who were mostly homeless people wandering as if they had no place to go. They looked about as lost as she felt at the moment.

'_No wonder this place was a hotspot for crime. These people have no other way to get off the streets,_' she thought. The sound of a child crying on the other side of the city made her shut her eyes, hoping that she could just ignore it. The noise didn't go away, and when the sound had become unbearable she opened her eyes again and sprinted towards it, cursing her hero instincts.

—

The building housing People Invested in Organized Crime (PIOC) was normally silent during the day and early evening. It really came alive around midnight, when there was no chance of a random person stumbling in during business hours.

However, on this day, there were a few people in the office long before "opening time." One of these people was the CEO of the company, a heartless man with zero tolerance for failure. The reason for his being so early was one of his advisors had some news that he wanted to share. The advisor had said it was of the "utmost importance" and left it at that.

He hoped the information was good; it would be a shame to have one of his newest and most successful advisors killed. There was a knock on his door and the CEO beckoned his visitor to come inside with a raised arm. The CEO sat with the back of his chair facing the door; he liked to keep his meetings as impersonal as he could.

"Boss," the man said, "There's something interesting that you should know."

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious, but the CEO knew that his power lied in his appearance of indifference. "Speak," he said stoically.

The advisor swallowed slowly and consulted his papers. "It seems that Videl Satan has been spotted in Gingertown with a location not very far from this building."

The CEO raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Videl Satan, you say?" he replied. "The daughter of Mr. Satan? The same girl who has crippled our Satan City division?" He touched the fingertips of his hands together in front of his face. "You're right this _is_ interesting information. I wonder if our friends at OCS are aware of this news?"

OCS, or the Organized Crime Syndicate, was the 2nd largest crime empire in the world, (2nd behind PIOC of course) and another criminal empire that was headquartered in Gingertown. Ever since the Red Ribbon Army's downfall both had been growing substantially, feeding off markets and business the Red Ribbon Army had monopolized. Now, PIOC and OCS were eternal rivals and together made up almost 60% of all the organized crime in the world.

"Would you like me to inform them, boss –um sir?" the advisor asked.

"You may," the CEO replied, "But make sure they know the girl is ours. And send in our best men for the job; we're going to get rid of this pest for good."

—

Videl turned the last street corner and looked around with a sense of urgency. By this time the sun had already vanished and the moon had taken its place. In the less-than sufficient lighting, her eyes did not come across anyone and she slumped her shoulders forward in disappointment. Granted, the crying had stopped while she was a few blocks away, but the silence didn't guarantee anything.

"Hey!" she called. "Is anyone there?" She received no response. "Just great. I run over here to help, and no one's even here to appreciate it." Videl folded her arms over her chest and felt goose bumps; now that she was standing still, she felt the full effects of the cool Northern air. She started to wish she had the foresight to bring a jacket with her back when she was on the way to Orange Star, or at least grab one after she left.

She looked around one last time before muttering, "I should really get going." Videl started to lift off the ground, but in the corner of her eye noticed one of the neighboring building's lights go on. She stopped taking off in time to hear yelling coming from the building. She also heard a loud _thud_ following a pause in the heated exchange.

Videl stealthily approached the building and crouched under an extremely cracked window that looked like if she blew on it, the window would shatter. She chanced a glance inside and saw two unarmed thugs in one corner of the room arguing over, what looked like, an unconscious man. After her brief peek, she ducked her head back under the windowsill before she was discovered.

Checking her watch quickly by force of habit, she resolved to do something to apprehend the two thugs and save the other person. It didn't look like Gingertown had a very organized police force, and she doubted anyone else was going to take over the job she had taken upon herself. '_Besides,_' she thought, '_there's nothing better than some therapeutic butt-whooping to take your mind off your problems._'

Videl glanced at the room a second time and saw a door on the wall of the room that the thugs had their backs to. She decided her best option was to enter the building and make her way through that door. She quietly went around the building, looking for an entrance that wasn't blocked off or locked. She eventually found one around the back. Even though it was locked, the lock was in such bad condition that slightly jiggling the knob had worked.

Wincing as the door creaked, Videl made her way inside the building. She tip-toed through the bottom floor trying to find a way to the room she saw through the window. While walking around, Videl felt that, from the outside, the building looked a lot smaller than it actually was. The bottom floor was divided into several rooms and each one opened into one another, making it obnoxiously difficult to navigate. The building's poor lighting did nothing to help the situation.

After opening the door to another closet, the teenage crime fighter frowned in annoyance. She looked around for another door she hadn't tried and thought, '_This isn't working_. _If they're not through this door then I'm better off going back outside and getting in through that window._'

Videl slowly opened the door far enough for her to see around it. She looked inside and silently cheered when she saw the backs of the same two thugs, who seemed as if they had not moved during her trip through the building. Videl also noticed there was no change in the condition of the man the two thugs stood over. The two had stopped arguing and seemed to both be staring at the man, no doubt deciding his fate. One of them fingered a gun in his pocket that she had not seen through the window.

Figuring she didn't have much time, Videl made her move. Before the first thug realized what was going on, his face crashed into the wall and he was on the ground, Videl's powerful kick had hit him squarely in the back. She continued her assault and went for the second thug who, even though he had he had more time to anticipate Videl's attack, didn't fare much better than his partner. The second thug managed to raise his arm to block her first punch to his head, but could do nothing about the barrage of blows she rained down on him.

Once she was certain both men were down for the count, she went to help the unconscious man who hadn't woken up from the fighting. Up close she saw he had a cut on his forehead that was bleeding and a couple more on his exposed arms.

She wasn't in the mood to carry the poor guy and instead said loudly. "Hey! Wake up!"

The man didn't stir.

Videl's thoughts suddenly turned dark. '_If he's not responding, maybe he's more than unconscious. Maybe he's . . ._' She didn't want to continue with that thought, at least not until she had substantial evidence. She picked up the man's wrist and pressed two fingers against it, checking if there was a pulse.

_Ba-bump. Ba-bump. _She felt the rhythmic pounding of the man's heart. Once she was sure the beats were regular, she checked it against her own. Since two weren't so off, she felt the man's unconscious state was probably due to experiencing shock . . . or something.

Videl could owe her faster heart rate from the energy it had taken to take out those two brutes. She looked at the two fallen thugs and narrowed her eyes in thought. The way the light was hitting one of them made it look like there was someone else in–

"Put your hands up," A deep male voice said from behind her. The tone of the voice let her know she wasn't in a position to refuse. As further _persuasion_, she head the familiar _click _of a gun locking ammunition into place. Videl frowned and complied with the orders; she just wasn't catching a break today.

"Turn around, Satan," Another voice said. She was genuinely surprised that more than one person managed to sneak up on her, and followed the order albeit begrudgingly. She was a little thankful that, in her position, she could protect the comatose man behind her.

As she turned away from the body on the ground, she missed the smirk that had plastered itself on the seemingly unconscious man's face. However, the scene that played out in front of her wasn't any less surprising.

Videl turned around to find four heavily armed men blocking the door, and it looked as if a couple more were in the next room, making their way towards her. '_Stupid. Stupid! I was so stupid! I got too preoccupied by this guy, and I left the stupid door open so they could all sneak in!_' She practically screamed at herself. Her eyes darted toward any potential exits, but it was to no avail; the window she had used earlier was in the far corner of the room, too far for her to reach without getting killed.

One of the thugs guessed her thoughts and said, "Thinking of escape? Nice try, Satan, but we _own _this city. Even if you manage to get through us, you'd be killed on the spot. We have snipers on every rooftop in a three mile radius." Videl listened with minimal interest, she figured that she had less of a chance getting sniped while flying out of Gingertown than getting shot trying to exit this building, even if she had to carry the unconscious man the whole time.

"We'll just have to see about that," Videl said sounding more confident than she felt.

"Good luck with getting past us," a thug with tattoos covering his arms and the left side of his face. "We're all trained assassins, modeled after the great Tao-Pai-Pai himself. Any one of us is _more_ than a match for you." The name Tao-Pai-Pai seemed extremely familiar to Videl and she wracked her brain for more information.

"Tao-Pai-Pai, huh?" she said. "Wasn't he the younger brother of the Crane Master? And a finalist in the 23rd Budokai? He got disqualified for trying to kill a participant, and then he sort of disappeared." Yet again, she was surprised how well her memory had served her. '_Maybe being with Gohan is rubbing off on me._'

"Very good, _girl_," the tattooed man replied. "But you forgot one thing, Tao-Pai-Pai was famous for being a legendary assassin. He was even considered the world's best. Not only was he unparalleled in the use of weapons, but he was known for his ability to kill using any part of his body."

By this time, Videl's shoulders were starting to ache. Standing with her hands in the air was pretty uncomfortable, and every second was just making the pain worse. She focused on the ground right in front of the tattooed man's feet. The whole 'assassin' revelation, if true, would prove more worrisome than snipers.

"So this Tao-Pai-Pai, he was a martial artist too, at least partially. And if you guys 'modeled' yourselves after him, then surely you're all martial artists in your own right. Why don't you show me what a _trained assassin_ can do? I'm more than willing to take you on." She started to lower her arms slowly and get in a fighting stance hoping no only that they would accept her challenge, but that she could get into a more relaxed position.

The reaction was immediate. Videl only realized what had happened after hearing the loud echo of a gunshot. She pulled her arms up quickly and closed her eyes expecting the worst, even though it was far too late for her to react. When the anticipated pain didn't arrive, she opened one eye and then the other. She turned her neck and her eyes widened as she made out two bullet holes that would have just missed either side of her neck. If either shot was shifted to the left or to the right an inch, they would have easily killed her before she knew what was going on.

The tattooed man waved his gun carelessly, clearly demonstrating that he had been the one to shoot at Videl. "Good try, _girl_, but we were all given orders to kill you on the spot. You're not getting away that easily. And do keep your hands up; I would hate to _miss _and accidentally blow one of them off."

Videl gritted her teeth and responded, "If you were told to kill me on sight, then why am I still alive?"

"Because, _girl_, you interest us. You are a mere teenager who has single-handedly destroyed the criminal business in one of the world's biggest cities. Not only that, but _we_ have managed to capture you in no time at all. Don't you find that interesting?"

When Videl didn't respond, the tattooed man raised his gun again and pointed it at her along with the rest of the men in their assassin group.

Videl stood tall and faced her captors in the eyes. '_I'd hate to say it, but right about now even I'd be grateful seeing Gohan swoop in and save the day. But I don't really see that happening . . . _'

"I'm sorry," she said to the unconscious man over her shoulder. "I couldn't get you out of here. This looks like the end of the line for us."

"No, just you." The sound of that chilling voice coming from behind her, coupled with the feeling of a cool blade on her back, caused Videl to spring forward. However, the man still managed to cut open a pretty big gash on her back.

Videl went down on one knee from shock and pain and took a good look at her attacker, completely forgetting the other probably more dangerous men holding guns in their hands. It was definitely the same man that was previously unconscious. Ignoring the white-hot pain in her back, Videl got back up quickly and launched herself at the newcomer.

She managed to score an elbow to the man's already bleeding forehead due to surprise. She followed through by clubbing the guy in the head, which caused him to drop his knife. She was about to continue attacking, but as she brought her arm back for another strike a particularly painful spasm in her back made her gasp in pain and halt her movement.

In her moment of pain-induced hesitance, she left herself wide-open to a blow straight to her face by one of the forgotten assassins. The momentum from extremely powerful punch carried her to the opposite wall, and when her already injured back collided with the wall she cried out in pain. She sank to both knees, barely supported by the wall.

If that punch did anything, it made her realize that maybe what the tattooed man was saying before wasn't a bluff. She didn't remember _ever_ being hit that hard. Not by any run-of-the-mill robber or criminal, not even Spopovitch, and he was powered up by an evil wizard! She touched the side of her face, feeling it throb.

"To hell with this! We'll kill both of you now!" the man who had punched her said angrily. He raised his gun, aimed, and shot the man who stabbed Videl.

Videl saw the bullet go almost in slow motion. It hit the man in the center of his chest, and he was dead before he hit the ground. It took his body ages to finally fall to the ground, and he didn't get up again. His body joined those of the two thugs she knocked out earlier, a pool of blood forming under it.

"Why would you do something like that?" Videl yelled. "He was one of you guys!"

"He may have had the same orders as us, to kill you, but he was not 'one of us,'" the tattooed man replied. "Satan, you have a lot of things to learn. Unfortunately it seems as though my colleague is itching to shoot someone, so it looks as if your borrowed time is running out." The tattooed man gestured to the assassin that punched her in the face.

"I think we'll need a second opinion on that!" The familiarity of that voice followed by the sound of the window breaking caused Videl to release the breath she didn't know she was holding.

Her savior had come. Except, she couldn't call him that, at least to his face.

For some reason, that heinous green outfit with the ridiculous cape didn't look so heinous. And the pointless obligatory speech about good and evil didn't seem so stupid. (But the poses were still really lame; nothing could change that.)

Between the blinding pain that felt like ten knives were being forced into her back, and the pure exhaustion she was starting to feel from the traumatizing events from earlier, Videl found it hard to concentrate on the fight.

Once bullets were proved useless on Saiyaman, she saw one of the assassins challenge the masked hero. When he dispatched the first challenger (after a little difficulty, because Gohan seemed surprised at the level of the assassin, to which he quickly adjusted) the rest of the men, realizing Gohan was no ordinary idiot in a superhero outfit, rushed him.

In the glimpses of the ensuing fight, Videl felt that Gohan was fighting more aggressively than usual. His blows seemed more intended to injure rather than just render unconscious. She winced at the painful _snap _of an assassin's wrist after he made the poor decision to try to block one of Saiyaman's attacks.

"This is brutal," Videl said quietly as Gohan's next attack practically paralyzed one of the attackers. "Hey, Saiyaman! Calm down! Are you trying to kill these guys?" Saiyaman kept fighting as if he hadn't heard a thing.

Videl watched him fight for a couple more seconds, but decided enough was enough after one of Gohan's kicks broke a man's leg and he screamed in pain. She pushed herself up into a standing position using the wall to balance. "_Gohan! Look at me!_" Gohan stopped fighting for a moment and turned his head in her direction.

"Calm down, okay?" she said softly. "You don't have to worry about me; I'm fine. Really." Videl attempted walking, and even though each step felt like her last, she was able to walk a couple before she had to stop. "See?" she added through clenched teeth.

Gohan paused, taking the information in. Videl didn't think he believed her attempt to make him think she was okay, but she hoped her words convinced him to stop what he was doing before. He looked back down, and seemed shocked to see two either unconscious or dead men heavily bleeding right under him, another nursing a broken hand and leg, and a fourth man was inching away from him with his one working arm. Other men were in similar states across the room, making it look like a warzone.

"Are they . . . ?" Gohan asked referring towards the two men by his feet.

"Well one of them's dead, but he was killed before you got here. The other one's just unconscious. He probably won't be waking up for a while, maybe with some paralysis. You did hit him pretty hard. We should just go, Gohan."

"I– . . . Yeah, I guess we should, but what should we do with these guys?"

"Just leave them, the police can–wait, ugh. I just remembered that Gingertown doesn't have a stupid police force. We're gonna' have to take them in ourselves."

"We can just take them to the next town over."

"Yeah, that could work."

—

The wind from flight caused some strands of Videl's hair to blow across her face, tickling her nose. She stared up at Gohan's form—illuminated by the moonlight—and wondered how he could see anything in the night with the completely unnecessary sunglasses that he was wearing. They had dropped off the crippled assassins in the next town over, and were heading back to Satan City and 439 East District respectively.

Once the assassins were handled, Gohan had offered to carry her to Kami's Lookout where Dende could heal her back, but she refused. One of her reasons was that she couldn't think of a way Gohan could hold her without aggravating her back and where she could retain even a shred of her pride.

Another reason was that she didn't want her poor old dad to have a heart attack, because she wasn't home before midnight. He was already practically guaranteed to have one after he discovered Buu and Bee in the basement, and having more than one in the same day was probably hazardous to his health.

Of course Gohan didn't really listen and still wanted her to ride his 'flying cloud' (of course he had one of _those_) but she insisted that the injury to her back only looked bad (Oh that scratch? It doesn't hurt at all) and didn't make her want to scream in pain after every step.

After a bit of thinking, Gohan eventually remembered he had an "emergency Senzu bean" in his outfit and offered it to Videl who accepted, annoyed that he hadn't thought of it earlier (But she didn't tell him that).

Looking at the starry sky, Videl thought about her rocky relationship with the Son boy. She found it curious, to say the least, that despite everything that went on, he still managed to be her savior. It wasn't that she was ungrateful for his frequent heroics; she just wanted to know more.

"So why'd you do it?" she said quietly.

"Do what?" he replied.

"You know . . . Save me."

Gohan sighed and stopped in mid-air. "Videl–"

"No, Gohan! Don't 'Videl' me! " She stopped directly in front of the demi-saiyan boy and looked him in the eye. "You had every right to turn your shoulder and say 'Videl can get out of her own messes.' And I wouldn't have blamed you, especially after today!"

"What? And leave you to _die_! That's like me killing you myself!"

"You don't get it, Gohan! I don't–"

"No, _you _don't get it, Videl! Once, I didn't do everything in my power to stop a threat, and my father died because of _my _bad decision! I blamed myself for a long time, so do you think I could just stand by when I knew you were in danger and I could do something about it?"

"No, but I'm _not_ your dad, Gohan!" Gohan's intense stare wavered at that statement, and he tried to look anywhere than at Videl. "And you're not the same little boy from the Cell Games!"

Gohan went silent for a moment and later whispered hoarsely, "H– how'd you know?"

"I guessed."

Gohan chuckled softly and looked up at the stars. Videl flew until she was right beside him. "Yeah, you're really good at that . . . Listen, Videl, if this experience has taught me anything it's always to tell the whole truth, no matter how painful. So here goes . . . I don't really know when it started or even how it did, but all I know is that I _really _care about you.

"You're important to me and just the _thought _of you getting hurt, makes me feel like I'd rather die a thousand times before I see that happen. And it's weird, I know, but I don't want to stop caring about you. I don't even think I _can_.

"I guess what I want to say is that even though I have all these feelings, if you aren't comfortable with me or this whole alien thing, even though it _kills_ me to say it, I'll try–, no I'll . . . learn how not to love you."

During Gohan's speech a sea of emotions went through Videl. She wasn't sure whether to feel incredibly guilty about forcing Gohan to go through all that, or ecstatic that Gohan felt all those things about _her_. She worried for a moment that she didn't feel the same about him, but that fear was immediately put out of mind when memory after memory of Gohan flooded into her mind.

His dazzling smile . . .

The way he laughed even when he was nervous . . .

The fact that she could_ always_ depend on him . . .

'_Great_,' she thought, '_now I'm getting all mushy, and I still have to convince Gohan that I-, I think I feel the same way about him._'

"So you're saying that this is my decision?" Videl asked as she turned to face him. Then she slowly used both hands to remove Gohan's shades and drop them. Her heart started beating faster in anticipation of her next move and put her arms on his shoulders.

"Videl, what are you–" Gohan started, before she silenced him by pulling him towards her for a kiss. Videl tried to put every single good feeling she had about Gohan into the kiss and somehow make him understand how important he was to her. Gohan's body stiffened in surprise at first, but he eventually relaxed into it putting his arms on her waist. Eventually, but both felt it was far too soon, the two broke apart. Videl wore a genuine smile on her face and Gohan had on a stupid grin.

"I– uh, wow," Gohan said lost in stupor. "–Er . . . Can we do that again?" Videl laughed and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. She moved backwards away from him, in serious thought.

She shivered a little and brought her arms in close to her. "There's something I need to tell you before anything else happens between us."

Gohan was a little put-off by the abrupt change in emotion and said, "If this is bad news, then can you wait and tell me later? Tomorrow–, next week– anytime really, just not now. I want to just enjoy this moment, here, with you."

Videl's resolve faltered as she considered what to do next. Why couldn't she honor Gohan's request? It wasn't as if she _wanted_ to tell Gohan about the Alien Patrol Club fiasco just yet. And taking a moonlit flight with Gohan without worrying about anything seemed a very promising end to a hectic day.

Making up her mind, Videl grabbed one of Gohan's hands and said, "Fine, it'll be a story for another day. Right now let's just fly."

* * *

**A/N: **Welp! The chapter you have all been WAITING FOR. It's way longer than usual and has everything you could want: action, romance, hilarity (okay maybe it's not _that _funny). Thank you everyone for ALL the reviews! Please R&R and give me some feedback on how this chapter was (especially the romance). Stay tuned for what happens next!


	13. If Ignorance Is Bliss, What Is Love?

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own Dragonball Z. Wow. Haven't done one of these in a while.

* * *

Alien Patrol Club

Videl stared blankly at the ceiling of her room for a while. She didn't want to get up and have to deal with her father or his words about arriving home so late. Besides, she didn't have any school that morning, so she deserved a little sleeping in.

Her thoughts strayed to Gohan, and she wondered what his slightly overbearing mother would have to say about the late hour he returned home. Likely it wasn't anything good.

She still had to tell him about Lee and the Alien Patrol Club, which seemed less appealing the more she thought about it. Man, this whole honesty thing was kind of hard. By all means she should be happy; she just got the guy, but she was also in danger of losing him.

"Videl! Sweet pea! Are you up?" Videl groaned as she heard her father's voice. She knew she would receive an earful at the late time she returned home. She hoped that she had snuck effectively back into her room, but her father never got her up before ten on weekends so a lecture had to be on his agenda. She slid back under her covers in a vain effort to attempt to make her father think she was asleep.

"I'm coming in!" Mr. Satan said loudly.

"What was the point in knocking?" Videl muttered as her father entered her room. She pulled her covers off her face and sat up to face him. Her expression remained blank, and she mentally prepared herself for the lecture/speech that her father was bound to give her.

Mr. Satan appeared much more flustered than she expected, wearing an outfit other than his customary gi. "Videl," he said, "you need to get dressed! Don't you remember? My –Our press conference about Majin Buu is going to start in an hour!" Her father immediately shut the door without waiting for Videl to respond.

Videl sank back in her bed and stared at the ceiling again. This was worse than anything she could have imagined. At least she could zone out during one of his speeches. She hadn't thought of the press conference since her father had first suggested having one. She had immediately made her opinion known when she spat out her mouthful of cereal over the breakfast table.

She didn't really understand the point of having a press conference. Wasn't the purpose of the wish they were going to make to remove everyone's memories? And how was she supposed to answer questions directly related to Majin Buu? She didn't like the idea of lying to the whole world, even if it wouldn't matter in a couple months. Lying seemed especially terrible when she thought about how her father had been doing the same thing for the last seven years.

She considered completely ignoring what her father said and trying to go back to sleep, but decided against that (much better looking) plan. Leaving her dad alone in a room full of reporters and journalists was just asking for trouble. At least if she was there she could monitor what her father said and make sure no utterly ridiculous lies were used to explain anything that happened with Majin Buu.

But then again, everything that happened with Majin Buu was utterly ridiculous.

Something about Majin Buu triggered a hazy memory, and Videl thought back to the day before. "Ugh, this will not be fun," she groaned as she remembered where the djinn was presently. Dragging herself out of bed, she donned her usual outfit and headed downstairs.

Mr. Satan stood in the kitchen, agitatedly tapping his fingers against the granite counter, when he saw his daughter. "Videl!" he exclaimed while grabbing her arm. "There's no time for breakfast, we have to hurry!"

As he pulled her out of the room Videl said, "Hey, dad. By any chance did you go down to the basement last night and find . . . anything?"

"What are you talking about, Videl?" Mr. Satan replied, continuing his fast pace towards the door. "The basement is completely empty, and it has been for years. Why would I go down there?"

Videl shrugged her father's arm off her shoulder and answered, "Oh . . . uh, never mind. I . . . thought I heard you down there last night. Forget about it." She glanced towards the end of the hallway in the direction of the stairs. "I'll be back in a minute, dad. I need to –er check something." She started walking off without waiting for a reply. Once she was out of eyesight, she headed down to the basement.

"Wait!" Mr. Satan yelled after her. "Videl, we need to leave _now_!" He listened for a response but all he heard was the sound of Videl's footsteps gradually growing quieter. Hercule looked at a clock on the wall in indecision and hurriedly decided to follow Videl.

Her father was right; the basement was never used. When Videl flipped the switch to turn on the lights, a bulb flickered for a couple seconds and died. The majority of the lights in the room followed suit, but a couple stayed on, bathing the room in less-than-ideal brightness.

"Buu?" she said quietly. "Are you still down here?" She listened for a couple seconds and called a second time. This time, she heard soft barking as a response.

Mr. Satan, who was a few feet away, said to himself, "Is that . . . Bee?" He quickened his pace and stopped right behind his daughter. Now closer to the noise, he could hear the barking clearly. "If Bee is down here, then– Videl, is Buu down here also?"

"Um . . ." Videl looked at the ground while replying, "what would you do if I said yes?"

Instead of listening, Mr. Satan thought back to the absurd question Videl asked him that first made him curious. "Wait, has Buu been down here _all _night?"

"What!" Videl scoffed. "You think I would let a former super villain run amok in our basement all night with nothing but a dog for company? Come on, dad, that's just ridiculous." She smiled tensely and turned to look around. There wasn't much to see, and she started to wonder if Buu had abandoned Bee and gone searching elsewhere for candy.

"Mr. Satan!" a voice called from behind both Videl and her father. The two spun around as Majin Buu continued, " Buu came to stay with Mr. Satan, because Buu lonely."

"Okay, Buu," Mr. Satan replied, "I knew you were coming, but how long have you been down here?"

Buu looked at his hands and tried to count. After getting nowhere, he said, "Buu bad with time. Buu search for candy, and Videl tell Buu some down here."

"Videl, huh?" Hercule said. He turned around to face his daughter and found no one behind him. "Videl!" he yelled and raced out of the basement. Buu followed at a much slower pace.

Mr. Satan headed to the front door of their home, hoping his daughter had not left yet. He skidded to a halt in the entryway and saw the front door wide open. He considered sending Buu after her, but thought better of it, preferring not to cause mass panic. He sighed and picked up his phone, deciding to cancel the press conference and spend the day with Majin Buu.

—

When her father was distracted with Majin Buu, Videl decided to skip out on the happy reunion. This would probably be her best opportunity to both avoid the press conference and see Gohan. As she rushed to the front door, she felt a brief pang of guilt about letting her father go to the press conference alone. But that feeling was over when she figured with the appearance of Majin Buu, he'd probably call it off.

She took to the skies and headed in the familiar direction towards the 439 Eastern District.

—

Gohan woke up when he felt her ki signature. He hadn't really fallen into a deep sleep so he wasn't too shocked with being so attuned to her energy.

He sat for a moment in bed, marveling at the improvement Videl had made on her flying speed. Sure, she might only be able to give Nimbus a run for his money, but that alone was a decent feat for a human. He smiled a little at that thought. She knew he wasn't fully human and accepted him for what he was. He couldn't ask for a better . . . friend? Not really. However, the word girlfriend seemed too alien. For now, Videl was a . . . well, he'd think of the word later.

Getting out of bed, Gohan resolved to meet his–er, Videl in the air. He pulled on a jacket and headed out the window into the morning air. When he saw her approaching, he waved and stopped right in front of her.

"Hey, Videl!" he greeted cheerily.

"Hi, Gohan," Videl replied, not feeling as great after flying so long in the cool morning. She hugged her arms when she stopped, trying to get warm.

Gohan, noticing her actions, draped his jacket over her shoulders and said, "We should go inside. It's pretty cold out here." He grabbed one of Videl's hands and ushered her toward his home.

Videl blinked a couple times and followed Gohan. They headed towards the front door, and Gohan opened it.

"Gohan," Videl said quietly, because it seemed like no one else was up. "Didn't you come through your window? Wasn't the front door locked?"

"Well, we don't really lock our front door." Gohan laughed. "I guess, between the strongest guy in the world and his two sons, we don't think about that sort of stuff much. That and we kind of live in the middle of nowhere."

"Oh," Videl said as Gohan led her into the kitchen. When they walked in, the two saw Chi-Chi busily whisking some eggs while an enormous amount of batter for pancakes sat next to the stove.

"Morning, Mom," Gohan said to his mother. "Videl came over and is going to have breakfast with us."

Chi-Chi stopped whisking for a moment and looked up. "That's fine, Gohan," she replied, with a small frown. "But I wish you would have told me earlier. I would have prepared more food."

"Sorry," Gohan said quietly.

"Oh, that's okay, Mrs. Son, I don't want to bother you too much," Videl added, looking at the massive amount of food already sitting on the counter, waiting to be prepared.

"It's no problem, dear," Chi-Chi said, back to whisking, a smile on her face after seeing Videl wearing Gohan's jacket. "And please, call me Chi-Chi."

Gohan tapped Videl's shoulder and led them both back out to the front room adjoining the kitchen. He held a tray with two cups of tea in one of his hands. Smoothly, he passed one to her and grabbed one for himself before sitting down on the couch.

"So," he began, "You still haven't told me why you're here. I mean it's not like I didn't see you–" He paused and looked up at a clock. "Less than six hours ago."

Gohan watched Videl take a sip of the tea and set it down. She looked up at him and said, "Um . . . well, I guess part of the reason was to get out of a press conference with my dad. But the other, more important part was so I could talk to you."

"Let me guess," Gohan replied, setting his own tea down. "You want to tell me whatever it is that you were kind enough not to mention last night."

Videl leaned back and said, "Unfortunately, yes."

"Well, I guess now would be as good a time as any," Gohan said. "I'm all ears."

"Are you sure you want to know?" Videl asked. "I'd rather not ruin your day."

"Videl," Gohan said, grabbing both her hands, "obviously whatever you have to say is important. If it wasn't, you wouldn't be here right now. So I would really appreciate if you told me what's been bothering you."

Videl's cheeks flushed pink and she looked away. Pulling her hands out of Gohan's grasp, she stood up. "Fine, but not right here. Can we do it somewhere your family can't hear us?"

"Sure, but aren't you being a little paranoid? They're not listening," Gohan said as he stood up and followed Videl.

"'Paranoid,' he says," Videl muttered and rolled her eyes. She opened the door to the kitchen just in time for the two to see Chi-Chi scramble backwards toward the stove and knock over a couple pans.

"Oh, Videl, Gohan, back so soon?" Chi-Chi said in a strained voice.

"Mom!" Gohan complained.

"Let's go, Gohan. We'll be outside Chi-Chi," Videl called over her shoulder, dragging the half-saiyan boy back to the front door.

Once they were outside, Gohan took the lead. He picked up Videl and blasted both of them off, going at incredibly high speeds.

"Gohan!" Videl cried. "Slow down!"

"Oh, come on, Videl!" He replied. "I figure, since you're so hesitant about talking to me, this problem might be pretty big. And, well, ignorance is bliss, I guess!" Videl immediately became pensive at his words, and Gohan took her silence as a sign to land.

Spotting a small clearing in the forest below them, he said, "Okay, Videl. We'll stop here." Gohan gingerly set Videl on her feet and sat down on the grass. Videl sat next to him and sighed.

"It's really pretty around here all the time, isn't it?" she said quietly. Gohan opened his mouth to reply but she cut him off. "I'm really sorry, Gohan. Really sorry."

Gohan looked at her in confusion. "Videl, why do you keep apologizing? What's wrong?"

"I'll tell you, but you have to promise to listen to the _whole _explanation. Please don't interrupt." Videl focused her stare at Gohan's eyes.

Gohan didn't shrink away, but decided not to argue. "Okay, Videl. I won't interrupt. I _promise _I'll listen to the whole thing."

"Fine, here goes," Videl said. "You remember the club that was following you around school for a while? The Alien Patrol Club? Well, I sort of joined it."

"Wait, _what_!" Gohan yelled. "I knew you were working with that Mark kid, but actually _joining_ people who are trying to torment–"

"_Gohan_," Videl said firmly.

"Right, I'll be quiet. Sorry," Gohan replied.

Videl continued, "Well, I never officially joined it, I guess. I mean, I went to a couple meetings. But, I was never really serious about it. I just wanted to know more about you. And it was killing me how you were _still _keeping secrets from me.

"Well, one member from the club, Mark—he was definitely the person who was most interested in finding out if you were an alien—he and I started working together. But that partnership was also pretty short-lived until recently. Anyways, yesterday was just a really bad day. Remember when you confessed to being an alien, and I sort of ran off? Well, I had just remembered what Mark told me earlier. The Alien Patrol Club likes to hide in the most random of places around the school, and I was afraid one of them would have heard you."

Gohan's face betrayed no emotion and Videl continued, "Yeah, well one of them did. I saw an empty trashcan and found an abandoned wallet on the ground. I recognized the person as the leader of the club."

"Lee," Gohan muttered.

"Yeah, him. Wait, how'd you know?" Videl asked.

"He's in one of my classes. He's always talking about–"

"Wait," Videl said. "I thought I said no interruptions."

"You asked _me_ a question," Gohan replied. "I think I should be allowed to answer it."

"Whatever, Gohan. Now as I was saying, Lee heard what you said. At least that's what I found out later. I called Mark to verify Lee's identity and maybe figure out his next move. When Lee called an emergency meeting, I tagged along with Mark. I found out that not only did Lee hear what you said, but he had it on tape." Gohan's heart sped up at her words, and Videl paused to observe him.

She eventually continued saying, "Yeah, well I sabotaged the meeting and destroyed the tape, but only after Lee played it for Mark, who probably hates me right now. Not that I don't deserve it, but well . . . And now I have no idea what they're going to do. "

Gohan felt really hot all of a sudden. He fingered the collar of his shirt, feeling extremely confined, and stood up agitatedly. He forced his body to stay still and took a deep, shaky breath. "So you're telling me," he said levelly, "that these two guys and possibly a whole club of people at school know I'm an alien?" He almost had full control of his body, but his hands started to tremble.

Videl stood up and grabbed his shaking hands. "And it's all my fault. And I will do _everything_ in my power to make it right."

"But what am I going to do? I–, I can't go back to school." Gohan ran a hand through his hair. "I mean, what if they tell everyone, and the government comes knocking on my door? We'll have to move! Or what if they go after Vegeta, and he kills all of them? What if they expel me, and I can't go back to school? " A breeze started up around Gohan's feet as he went through his list of possibilities.

"Gohan!" Videl yelled. "Snap out of it!"

"But Videl! What if I can't see you anymore?" Gohan replied just as loudly, the breeze now a violent wind.

"Gohan, _stop_! Freaking out like this isn't helping anyone. Just think about this rationally. Who is going to believe Mark and Lee? I mean they've both been spewing their alien theories for years. Besides even if they somehow convince the world you're an alien—which they won't— don't you still have the dragonballs? We were going to make a wish that no one remembered Buu. Can't you just add your alien problem to it?"

Just like that the wind died. Gohan stood still for a moment as he thought about what Videl had said. "Kami, you're smart. Have I told you that?" Gohan asked.

"You could say it more often," She replied smugly. She took Gohan's hand and started to levitate off the ground, leaving the clearing behind.

On the way back home, Gohan noticed his companion looked like she still had something on her mind.

"So . . . ," Videl said suddenly, "you haven't really reacted to my part in all this."

Gohan furrowed his brow. "Well, what do you want me to say? 'I hate you?' I'm sorry, but I can't. Because it's not true."

Videl huffed angrily, "I _want _you to tell me how you feel. Please, Gohan. I want to know if you've really forgiven me."

"Forgiven you? For what?" Gohan asked, perplexed. He paused for a moment to think. "Frankly, I think it was admirable that not only did you try to fix whatever situation you got yourself into, but you also asked for help when you found out you needed it. In my book, that's not something to be ashamed of."

"Geez, Gohan. Why do you have to be like that!"

"Like what?"

"So obnoxiously perfect!"

"Yeah, right. Like I'm perfect."

"Just accept the compliment and stop talking, Gohan."

—

Even though Videl had done a lot to make him feel better, Gohan wasn't sure how he would react to actually being at school when the time came. He was almost positive he wouldn't freak out again, but there was no telling. Since they still had no idea what Mark and Lee were planning, all Gohan could do was walk in with his head held high.

Gohan had actually decided to come early to school that day, trying to stay one step ahead of the Alien Patrol Club; just in case they tried to ambush him, or something. Not that he couldn't take on a club of nerds, but that was not how he imagined starting the day off.

Videl had been called early that morning to help some poor lady get her stubborn cat out of a tree (Exactly what were the Satan City law enforcement being paid for?). Figuring she was more than capable to handle the job alone, Gohan had decided not to tag along as Saiyaman.

He also chose not to land on the roof that day and opted to land nearby in the city and walk to school. As he approached the large building he was shocked with how unfamiliar the front looked. He was so used to the aerial view of the place; he hadn't entered through the front since his first week of school.

Shrugging, Gohan walked in the school and came face-to-face with . . . himself? Everywhere Gohan looked he saw a flyer with his face and one word under it: ALIEN. If he hadn't had Piccolo as his first Martial Arts teacher, Gohan was pretty sure he would have fainted on the spot. As it was, he did the first thing that came to mind and started frantically pulling down the flyers as fast as he could.

Everywhere he turned there were more flyers, and Gohan practically flew across the school removing them. He began with dumping the first hundred in the trash, but soon he resorted to ripping up the flyers into unrecognizable pieces.

Students started arriving while Gohan was completing his task, and he was not averse to knocking them in order to accomplish it. Finally, he pulled the last flyer off the wall and sighed in relief.

"Hey Gohan!" a familiar voice said, interrupting the brief calm.

"Oh, hey there, Erasa," Gohan said, quickly hiding the flyer behind his back.

"What do you have there?" the blond teenager asked.

"Oh, this?" Gohan said gesturing to the paper. "It's . . . um . . ." Scratching his head, he looked around and spotted his savior. "–Hey look, it's Videl!"

Erasa spun around to greet her best friend. "Hi Videl!"

"'Morning Erasa. Hi Gohan." Videl joined the two in the hallway and eyeballed Gohan. "What's with all the paper shreds on the floor, and what are you hiding behind your back, Gohan? And _why_ do you look sweaty?"

Gohan, who actually was feeling rather nervous from this interrogation, replied, "Uh . . . because you intimidate me?"

"Sure I do," Videl said, unconvinced.

"I think I know what he's holding behind his back, Videl," Erasa said.

"You do?" Videl and Gohan replied simultaneously.

Erasa said, "Yeah! Obviously it's a declaration of his love for you, Videl, and he's too nervous to say it out loud."

Gohan breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, that's what it is."

"I mean, it makes so much sense," Erasa continued. "Because, at first I thought it was those weird Gohan-is-an-alien flyers that were all around school–"

Gohan's face immediately paled as Videl interrupted her friend. "Wait, _what_? Erasa can you repeat that again?"

Erasa stopped and looked at her two friends slowly. "Um okay, Videl," she said. "At first I thought it was one of those weird Gohan-is-an-alien flyers. But now I know the tru–"

"Erasa," Gohan interrupted, "tell me where you saw these flyers."

"Well, there were some in the girl's bathroom." Gohan used one hand to cover his face. "And when I opened my locker this morning a couple of them poured out." Gohan used his other hand to grab his face as he groaned.

Videl went immediately to her locker, walking past right past Gohan. When she opened it, out poured more copies of the flyer Gohan had tried so hard to remove from the school. He looked up as she picked up a paper angrily and started marching down an unfamiliar hallway.

"Videl!" he called. "Where are you going?"

"To teach some nerds a lesson!" she replied.

—

Sharpener appeared from a different side of the school and said, "I want in."

"No thanks, Sharpener. This one's a solo mission." Even though the meetings for the Alien Patrol Club were usually at lunch, she had a feeling she might find someone inside.

"Have it your way, babe. I'll respect your wishes this time. Just know that next time, they're mine." Videl didn't reply, because she was so focused. She hadn't even attempted to retaliate for Sharpener's 'babe' comment.

She walked swiftly down the school hallways until she saw the school auditorium, which had its lights on. She peered through the window to make sure people were inside and walked straight in all the way to the bottom of the stage. The paper she held was crinkled tightly in her fist.

"You!" Lee yelled as she walked in. "What are _you _doing here! What gives _you _the right to just walk in here and interrupt me when I'm speaking!"

"Save it, Lee. I couldn't care less about your speech." Videl turned to the rest of the club. "I just wanted to let you know that if you continue to print these flyers about Gohan, I will systematically hunt each and every one of you down. And I hope you all know that I _will _stay true to my word."

Lee's face flushed in anger, and he said, "You think you can come here and threaten _my _club–"

"I think I just did," Videl interrupted. "And I think I made my intentions clear. And the _girl's _bathroom, really Lee?" She turned to exit out the side door.

"We'll never stop, you know," Lee said from the stage. "Not until the world knows the truth."

Videl spun on her heel and was prepared to go up on stage and clock the idiot in the face when another voice said, "Videl, just leave. You're not welcome here."

She looked over at Mark's face and found it to be serious. She gazed around the room which was full of unfriendly faces, even the creeper who hit on her a couple weeks ago. "Fine, but I'll be back. This isn't over." She left the room not listening to some of the jeers, mostly coming from Lee, that followed her out.

Right outside the door, Videl met Sharpener who looked at her expectantly. "How'd it go?" he asked.

Videl walked past him and refused to answer. "That bad, huh?" Sharpener continued. "You should have taken up my offer."

"Yeah, well I didn't," Videl replied angrily. "And they're not going to stop. They're _never _going to stop; everyone will know, and it's all my fault."

Sharpener looked lost for a second but regained his cool expression. "Videl, I know exactly what you're talking about. You're sad because boys like Brains keep coming on to you, and you don't want everyone to know that you have feelings for me." Sharpener moved his arm to go on Videl's shoulder. "No one will even remember Brains when we're together. I think I can solve your problem right no–" Videl prevented him from completing his sentence by punching Sharpener in the face. The boy was out cold before he even hit the ground.

"One would think he would learn by now. One would think _I_ would learn by now," she mused as she headed back to her locker.

'_But Sharpener does make an interesting point,_' she thought deviously as she pulled out her phone.

—

"Hey, where's Videl?" Gohan asked Erasa in front of his locker. He looked around and saw a lot of people loitering nearby, stealing glances at him and Erasa when they thought he wasn't looking.

"I don't know," Erasa replied. "But she sent out this massive message to everyone that there is going to be a huge fight right here in the next two minutes."

"A fight?" Gohan said. "Here? She told me to meet her here before lunch so we could eat together."

"Ooh! Lunch! Is there something going on between you two, Gohan?" Erasa asked teasingly.

"N– No! Of course not!" Gohan stuttered.

"Actually, there is." Gohan looked up to see Videl with a determined expression on her face; People crowded in the hallway behind her.

Gohan looked momentarily relieved, but became more nervous when Videl didn't stop coming closer toward him. "V – Videl, what are you doing?" Thinking the fight Videl sent the message about would be with him, he backed against the lockers and closed his eyes.

"Relax," she whispered, much closer to him than he'd thought. "I'm just giving them something else to talk about."

And she kissed him.

Gohan so surprised his head immediately snapped back and hit the lockers. But Videl didn't stop and just pressed her lips harder against his. At one point Gohan stopped fighting and started kissing her back, and they exchanged in a heated battle of lips and tongues.

Their crowd was dumbfounded, and could only stare in shock and jealousy. How did _Videl Satan_ end up with the new guy, who must have been the king of all nerds if those alien-obsessed freaks were labeling him an alien? And how did the cute new boy end up with Ms. Martial Arts, Videl?

Videl ended the kiss when she felt her point was made and said, "Yeah, that's right. I, Videl Satan, am Gohan Son's girlfriend." Erasa squealed in delight, whipped out her phone and sent out a message to the whole student body about the good news.

"Come on, Gohan," Videl said, grabbing his arm, "we're leaving."

"Uh-huh," Gohan replied, dazed.

If anyone had asked Gohan if he was glad he went to school that day instead of just staying home, he would have replied "yeah" with a mischievous smile. For the rest of that day, however, Gohan was so out of it that he spent the afternoon daydreaming, resulting in the school calling his mother and, later, a long drawn out lecture that he did not pay attention to in the slightest.

But such was the mind of a boy in love.

* * *

**A/N:** First things first. I want to apologize. I won't give you a list of excuses, because truthfully (once I finally got down to it a week ago) it only took me about a week to crank the majority of this chapter out. Thank you SOOOO MUCH for continuing to read this story and having faith that it would be updated. Alien Patrol Club is almost complete. One chapter left which will basically be an epilogue. Please Review! You guys are the best!


	14. Epilogue

**DISCLAIMER:** No, the owner of DBZ does not live here. Try again next week.

* * *

Alien Patrol Club

News about Orange Star High's newest couple spread through the school like wildfire. The pairing had its fair share of supporters and critics, and there were many, including Erasa, who saw the relationship coming from a mile away.

Arguably the most disappointed person in the school was Sharpener who ambled through the hallways that week moaning, "you get knocked out for 10 minutes and the whole school goes insane! Gohan dating Videl, what's next? An alien invasion?"

Hearing Sharpener's intriguing words, a nerd popped his head out of a classroom to conspire with whoever else had come up with a conclusion similar to his own.

"Say a word and I'll pound your face into the ground," Sharpener threatened.

The nerd put his hands up in surrender and quickly closed the door again. Sharpener smirked in satisfaction and headed to his next class, glad at least one thing at school was still going his way. As he walked, he completely missed the wet floor signs and his next step caused him to skid face first into a wall.

—

A few months later a wish was made on the Dragonballs that erased the world's memory of the villain known as Majin Buu. Gohan carefully considered making a second wish, but ultimately decided against it. And the world went back to normal and so did the lives of Gohan and Videl.

—

On a warm day, two teenagers were sprawled on their backs gazing up at the clouds. They relaxed in silence, listening only to the sounds of the nature around them.

"So, I meant to ask you," Videl said, breaking the comfortable quiet, "why didn't you end up making the wish?"

Gohan sighed and moved one hand behind his head. "Well, one reason was I knew Bulma would have shot it down pretty quickly," Gohan replied.

Videl rolled her eyes. "If that was your only reason, I'd be pretty annoyed. Seeing how big your freak-out was, I doubt you'd be deterred by just the thought of someone saying 'no.'"

"Hey, Bulma's pretty scary. You have no idea." Gohan laughed. "In fact, there was this time where Krillin said she was scarier than an evil galactic dictator that we were fighting against."

Instead of laughing along with him, Videl frowned at his words and said, "I don't think I could ever get used to that."

"Used to what?" Gohan asked.

"You talking about regularly risking your life against some power hungry alien! I mean it's bad enough that your hobby is to run around the city dressed as a superhero fighting, in your words, 'nefarious evildoers.'"

Gohan turned his head to face her. "You can't say that. You do the same thing, and you know it's a lot more dangerous for you to be out there than me!"

"Yeah, well that doesn't change the fact that you've been risking your life since day one."

"It's not like I had much of a choice. I- My life . . . it hasn't exactly been easy," Gohan said.

"Why don't you join the club," Videl replied. "Life isn't easy. And not every battle takes place against some insanely powerful sociopath. Some are a lot smaller, but may have just as much significance." She was silent for a couple seconds, apparently in thought. "Would you tell more me about your childhood if I asked?" She said quietly.

Of all the things Gohan was expecting her to ask, that question was not one of them. He stuttered, "Uh . . . Y- yeah, I guess. But um . . . wh- why would you want to know more about that?"

"Well, it just seems like the things that happened make up a big part of your life. I mean, I know you're an alien, and I know you defeated Cell. But obviously there's a lot more to your past than just that. I just want to understand you."

"Is 'understand me' another way of saying finding out all your secrets, because I thought we were done with that," he said with a small smile.

Videl smacked his arm good-naturedly. "No. I'm pretty sure we got all that covered, didn't we?"

"Well, let's see. We got the whole seven magical dragonballs thing down, right? And then we covered defeating Cell and your dad too. Then we had this whole debacle with me being a part of an ancient alien warrior race. There's some stuff that goes along with that, but it's not very important or relevant. You do know I'm Saiyaman, right?"

"Really? You're Saiyaman?" Videl said in a very sarcastic voice, "And all this time I thought he was a total dweeb. My apologies."

"Ouch," Gohan said while sitting up. "I feel like I should be really offended."

"But you're not."

"Not really," he said leaning back onto the ground.

After a couple minutes of silence, Videl asked, "So did those Alien Patrol guys ever quit? I mean, even if we got rid of all the evidence, and no one else at school seems to care, they seemed pretty determined."

"Well, I don't know if they've exactly stopped, but I haven't really been bothered in a while. No one remembers Buu or even much about the World Tournament we fought in. You know, other than your dad winning it and going on to save us all. I figure there isn't much to worry about."

Videl felt a cold twinge of guilt in the back of her neck at his words and said, "Gohan, I don't know if I've ever asked you this . . . But are you really okay with the way my dad has taken the credit for things that you and your dad have done? I mean, if our situations were reversed, I don't know if I could be as nonchalant as you are. And I want the truth."

Gohan turned away and propped his head up on his arm. "Truthfully," he sighed, "I can't say that I've never thought about what life would be like if everyone did know the truth. But then I think about the life I live now, and I can't imagine being any happier than I am.

"You know, your dad really did help save the world. Not just this time but even seven years ago." Gohan turned back to face her with a huge grin on his face and continued, "Not to mention that if your dad wasn't around, I never would have met you. I'd let your dad do it all over again if it meant you and I could be together." He moved his arm from under his body, rested it on her cheek and pulled her close for a tender kiss.

—

"This is a disaster!" Lee yelled at the nearly empty room. The club had been forced to relocate from the auditorium to one of the unused classrooms, because attendance was at an all time low.

"It's not the worst thing that could happen," Mark said massaging his temples. "There could be only two of us in here."

"At this rate there will be! Look around!" Lee said while gesturing wildly. "The only people who came are these two sleeping idiots, both of whom I _cannot stand_!"

The two sleeping with their heads on the desks woke up with a stir. They gazed at Lee's angry expression and the clocks on the wall and decided they should make their exit. Mark shook his head and sighed.

Lee looked at him and said, "I can't explain it. First people shirk from their stalking duties, then they plain stop showing up. This is an utter insult!"

"Maybe this is a sign," Mark said, "this might be the end of the Alien Patrol club."

Lee gasped as if insulted. "Mark, don't tell me you've succumbed to such pessimistic thinking too? This club will never 'end' until we accomplish our goal, unless you're counting disbanding during a Zombie Apocalypse and surely by then we would have legitimate proof aliens exist and even walk among us."

"Lee," Mark said, "you know I agree with you. I really do. But I don't want to waste the rest of my life trying to convince people something they will never believe. We had evidence, pretty convincing evidence too, but even that wasn't enough. As much as it pains me, I can't keep devoting my time to an impossible fantasy." He turned away from Lee and started walking towards the door.

"Mark, what are you–?"

"I'm leaving."

Mark continued walking, body language looking far surer than he had felt about his decision to leave that classroom. As he walked down the hallways, he failed to see Videl as she walked by in the opposite direction with a serious expression on her face.

Videl saw him, however, and stopped immediately to catch his attention. "Mark," she said tentatively. When he didn't look up, she followed up more forcefully.

He looked up the second time she said his name, and his expression immediately turned to shock. He turned away and continued back in the direction that he came.

Videl ran to catch up with him, undeterred by his obvious rebuff. "Mark, listen!" she said keeping pace with his stride.

"What gives you the idea that I want to listen to anything _you_ have to say?" Mark replied.

"Fine, well I'm just going to talk, and you can completely tune me out if you want." Videl paused, waiting for any argument. When Mark didn't reply she continued, "I know I haven't exactly been the best friend to you. Actually I haven't been a friend to you at all. All I did was manipulate you, and you didn't deserve that. No one deserves that."

"Except maybe Sharpener," Mark added. His face didn't change but Videl smiled.

"Except Sharpener, yeah. So what I'm trying to tell you is that I'm sorry. And though we may stand on opposite sides of an issue regarding Gohan, I'll have your back on pretty much anything else."

Mark didn't immediately reply to her words, even though he could tell they were sincere. It took him a couple moments to notice that they had stopped and were standing in front of the same door that he had left a couple minutes ago.

He also failed to notice that Videl had been holding a paper in her hands that she put in front of his face. "I was coming to see you just now at your club meeting." He looked at the paper, which was one of the few flyers Lee had printed out to encourage people to come to the club meeting. "I didn't expect to find you in the hallway. Were you running late?"

Mark took a deep breath and said, "Actually you might be happy to hear that I quit the Alien Patrol Club. Or rather I think it disbanded."

"Really? Wow. I know how important that was to you."

"Yeah, it now has a population of exactly one. And I'm probably going to have a ridiculous amount of time on my hands."

"Hmm . . . well if you're not busy right now maybe I could take you to meet my dad? You could ask him for an autograph or something?"

Mark's eyes opened wide. "Meeting Mr. Satan? Are you kidding me! I mean, he just saved the world! Of course I'm in!"

"I thought you would be."

* * *

**A/N: **Well, writing this story has been a fun ride with its ups and downs. A THOUSAND Thank-you's to everyone who took the time to read this and review. I hope this story was half as fun to read as it was to write. I'll probably be taking a hiatus from writing DBZ fics, but I may or may not return to publish a few one shots in the future. Thanks again!


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